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 #:
000529
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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Calvin S. Edwards, Cross Examination. 2379 By Mr. Grosvenor: Q. Can you state, witness, in what territory the theatres are located which yon circularize; that is, whose trade you endeavor to get? A. In the district that I described a few minutes ago, or mentioned a few minutes ago. Q. How do you happen to have some theatres in Iowa which are not in the territory which you name? A. We have three customers on a circuit which we have been furnishing for years. Q. Where are they located? A. One at Hannibal, Missouri; one at Fort Madison, Iowa, and one at Keokuk, Iowa. Q. These 535 theatres that you name as being within your territory are where located? A. In the State of Kansas, and the western half of Missouri. Q. Aren't some of them located in Iowa? A. Not in the 535, no, sir. Q. Are any of them located in Kansas? A. Yes. Q. Are any of them located in Oklahoma? A. Two. Not in the 535, no, sir. Q. Are any of them located in Nebraska? A. No, sir. Q. All these theatres which you serve, being 24G, have a daily change of program? A. Not all of them. Q. How many of them do? A. There is approximately seven that do not, Q. And what service do they take? These seven that do not take a daily service, how often do they change1? A. Some three times a week and some four. Q. In this district of yours; that is, in Kansas and western Missouri, there are located a great many very small country towns, are there not? A. A large number. Q. And isn't it the fact that there are in those country towns many so-called store shows or small places which will exhibit moving pictures once a week? A. Yes, there are some of them. Q. Well, there are a lot of them, aren't there1? A. Well, I should judge there were quite a few of them. Q. You have included within your 535 theatres, all places which exhibit motion pictures? A. That we have a knowledge of. Q. And you have included in thai list, all such places