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 #:
000522
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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2372 Calvin S. Edwards, Direct Examination. Q. Well, what is the average price that you charge at the present time per customer? A. The average price we charge, or that we get? Q. The average price that you get? A. Our customers at the present time average about thirty-one dollars each. Q. So the prices to the customer, average prices, are less than they were in 1910? A. From the Kansas City branch. Q. What is the practice in your territory as to the character and change of service? Do most of the theatres have a daily change? A. Most of them have a daily change, yes, sir. Q. How many reels to a program? A. Three, and four, and five. Q. What was the number of reels per program in 1910, prior to the sale to the General Film Company? A. Three reels daily. Q. That was the average? A. Yes, sir. Q. At that time was it customary for many of your customers to take four and five reels a day? A. No. Q. So that in 1910 the exhibitor was getting three reels a day, and paying forty dolalrs a wTeek for the service, and now the same exhibitor is getting from three to five reels a day, and he is paying thirtytwo dollars for it, is that correct? A. That is the average, thirty-one dollars. Q. Can you state whether or not the pictures served by the General Film Company today are an improvement over those served in 1910? A. Only through the complaints we have had. Q. Well, you see the pictures that are served now, don't you? A. Some of them. Q. Many of them, do you not? A. Yes, sir, quite a number. Q. You saw them in 1910? A. I did. Q. Are the pictures the same in quality of photography, and the acting, and in other respects now that they were in 1910, or has there been an improvement in those respects? A. The improvement has been very marked. Q. To what extent in your territory is the exhibitor at liberty to select his program of pictures? A. Our first, second, and third run customers select their own programs. Our entire number of reels that we lease we let out to certain customers, and they get together and rearrange their