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 #:
000530
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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2380 Calvin S. Edwards, Cross Examination. which you have a knowledge of in these towns which show pictures once a week? A. Yes, sir. Q. On direct examination you stated that there are 135 towns where the General Film Company has no customer. Is it not the fact that those are practically all small towns where the motion picture theatre will show pictures only about once a week? A. No, sir. Q. Please name the largest of those 135 towns. A. I can name a number of them, as to which I cannot tell you which is the largest or the larger ones. Q. Name the larger towns in Kansas or in your district, where the General Film Company does not have customers. A. Caldwell, Kansas ; Harper. Q. How large is Caldwell? A. I cannot give you the population of it. Q. How many theatres has it? A. Two. Q. Are they theatres that are going all the time? A. Running six days in a week. Q. Name some more. A. Harper. Q. How large is that? A. I don't know. Q. How many theatres has it? A. One theatre. Q. Does that run all the time? A. All the time. Anthony. Q. How large is that? A. I cannot give you the population of it. I don't know. Q. How many theatres? A. One. Q. How often does it run? A. Six days in a week. Q. Well, name some more towns? A. Garden City. Q. How large is it? A. I cannot give you the population of any of these. Q. Well, you gave the population of these places that you testified to on direct examination? A. If I would be asked about New York, probably I could give a city like New York, but if I was asked Hoboken, I could not give it. Q. Well, these are all very small towns, aren't they? A. No. Not necessarily. Two or three thousand people. That is a big town in Kansas. Q. How many of these 135 towns have two or three thousand inhabitants? A. I cannot tell you that. Q. There are very few of them, aren't there? A. No, quite a number. Q. Name some more of them? A. Garden City, Dodge City, Larned, Great Bend, Oysington.