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 #:
000511
Language:
English
Collection:
Early Cinema and Government & Law
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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Ralph Le Beau, Cross Examination. 2361 Q. And 134 of the 135 theatres change their programs daily? A. I will qualify that by saying that those shows which only run three nights per week would use only three changes, but where they run six nights a week, they change every day, with one exception. Q. How many of these 135 theatres run only three nights a week? A. Approximately only twenty. Q. Then, of your 135 theatres, about a one hundred and fifteen change every day? A. Yes, sir. Q. And twenty change three times a week? A. Well, one to two to three days per week. If they only run three days or two days, they only change twice or three times. Q. How many of those twenty run only one night a week? A. I should say, five. Q. Your territory ; that is, the territory of your branch, embraces a country that is largely agricultural? A. I should say, equally divided. There is a great deal of manufacturing throughout the State, as well as agriculture. Q. It includes many very small towns, doesn't it? A. Yes, sir. Q. In those small towns, the theatre will be open only on one night or two nights of the week? A. That is true. Q. You have included in this number, 290 theatres, all such places? A. I have. Q. Are there any theatres in Milwaukee which are open only one night a week? A. There are none. Q. How do you divide off the territory belonging to your general agency from the territory belonging to the other branches adjoining your branch of the general agency? A. That division is determined almost entirely by the shipping facilities. Q. Then there are towns that lie halfway between two general agencies or two branches? A. I could hardly say that, because there are certain railroads that run out of adjoining cities — cities where there are adjoining branches which can be reached much easier. Q. I should have said, perhaps, there are towns which have practically the same shipping facilities as regards your branch and another branch? A. There are. Q. For instance, you have named the town of Kenosha,