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 #:
000463
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:
July 25, 2024
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Joseph P. Morgan, Cross Examination. 2313 Q. You found the independent pictures unsatisfactory, in holding your patrons? A. Why, I found that some of my patrons liked them, and others did not like them. Q. You pay the same for the pictures of each manufacturer, provided they are of the same age? A. Yes, sir. Q. That is, the price is determined, not by the name of the manufacturer, but by the age of the picture? A. Yes, sir. Q. It is true, is it not, that in a number of pictures ten days old, some are more desirable than others? A. Some pictures? Q. Y"es; is that true? A. I don't catch what you mean. Q. Well, you have a program in which you show some thirty-day old pictures, and some twenty-day old pictures, and some ten-day old pictures? A. Yes, sir; about that. Q. When it comes to selecting your reel that is ten days old, you have a certain number that you may select from; is that the fact? A. No; it is booked up, as I explained a few moments ago. WTe get a schedule in advance. Q. Fixed by the General Film Company? A. I select the different reels I want to run on different days. I get data on what certain dates different manufacturers release comedies, dramas, etc., and I try to arrange them on my schedule so that my program will be varied. Q. When you select a reel that is thirty days old, on your program, you select it from quite a number of other reels that are also of the same age? A. Quite a number of other reels? Q. How do you select, then, a picture thirty days old, to put on a program? A. I ask for certain reels, at a certain age. Q. Do you name the reels? A. Why, the make of it, yes. Q. You pick out that make from quite a number of other makes of the same age? A. No, there could not be quite a number thirty days old. There could not be more than — they only release six reels a day. Q. How many would there be to select from? A. Making six reels a day, there would be six to select from, provided they are open. They are not always open. Q. Now, suppose you had a selection of the six? A. Yes, sir.