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In the District Court of the United States, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the United States of America, petitioner, vs. Motion Picture Patents Company, et al., defendants (1913)

Record Details:

Title:
In the District Court of the United States, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the United States of America, petitioner, vs. Motion Picture Patents Company, et al., defendants
Date:
1913
Publisher:
New York, Appeal Printing Co.
Volume:
In the District Court of the United States, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the United States of America, petitioner, vs. Motion Picture Patents Company, et al., defendants : record volume 4
Leaf #:
000375
Language:
English
Collection:
Government & Law and Early Cinema
Format:
Periodicals
Contributor:
The Museum of Modern Art Library, New York
Sponsor:
Media History Digital Library
Coordinator:
Media History Digital Library
Description:
These seven volumes contain the testimonies and supporting documents from the U.S. District Court's antitrust lawsuit against the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC). Formed in 1908, the MPPC (sometimes referred to asœ"the Edison Trust" or just "the Trust") sought to control the American film industry through pooling patents and demanding that producers and exhibitors acquire licenses to those patents. Independent producers and exhibitors, who refused to license the patents, argued that the MPPC was an unlawful monopoly. In 1912 and 1913, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania heard testimonies from both MPPC members, such as Siegmund Lubin, and "Independents" who later became Hollywood moguls, such as William Fox. Ultimately, in 1915, the case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which found the MPPC in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act and spelled the end for the already weakening MPPC. -- Eric Hoyt, 2012
Date Added:
September 21, 2023
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Albert J. Gilligham, Cross Examination. 2225 Circus is four, and the Garden is five. And the Majestic would be six. That is another one that the independents are serving that I forgot to name. Q. Who serves the Broadway? A. The independents. Eclectic Feature 'Film Company. Q. Have you, at any time, served them? A. No, sir. Q. Who serves the Liberty? A. The Famous Players. That is the largest house downtown. Q. Do they show Famous Players all the time, and nothing but that? A. Famous Players, and generally one reel of Keystone comedy. Keystone is an independent make. Q. Who serves the next one that you mentioned, the Liberty? A. You just asked me about the Liberty. Q. The Columbia? A. The Columbia is furnished by the Mutual. Q. Have you ever supplied them with film? A. Yes, sir. Q. How recently? A. Oh, up to a month ago. Q. And did you supply them regularly until a month ago? A. l^es, sir. Q. The Grand Circus. Who supplies them with service? A. They are supplied by the independents. Q. Which independents? A. Well, now, I don't attend it every day. I could not tell you what program they are using every day. The last one they were using out there, they had a bunch of Indians out in front, last week, six or seven out in the street, advertising a film called Hiawatha, the Indian Passion Play. Q. Have you ever served the Grand Circus? A. No, sir; they never applied to me for service. Q. Who furnishes the Garden Theatre? A. They are using the Famous Players and a mixed program there. Q. Have you ever supplied them with film? A. Yes, sir. Q. How recently? A. Up to about a month ago. Q. The Majestic; who furnishes them with service? A. The Majestic is furnished by the Mutual and the Famous Players. Q. Have you ever supplied them with service? A. Not in the past year or year and a half. Q. Until within a year and a half, you have? A. No, sir. Just a minute — we have not furnished the Majestic with a program in about two years.