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 #:
000533
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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Calvin S. Edwards, Rbcross Examination. 2383 Q. Could you state how many oil that list of theatres are 1 of that character? A. I cannot. Q. Do you serve many customers of that character? Mr. Grosvenor: I object to this, the witness having testified on cross examination that all of his customers have a daily change, that is, all making up this list of 246 have a daily change, except seven. By Mr. Caldwell: Q. You may answer the question. A. There are not many 2 of them. Recross examination by Mr. Grosvenor: Q. On the list of 535 theatres you have included, as I understand your testimony, the names of theatres which take service only once a week? A. Yes. Q. But the list of 246 theatres served by you includes 239 theatres that have a daily change of program, and seven theatres served by you which change either three times or two times or once a week, is that right? A. No, that is not right. 3 Q. What we are trying to get at are the facts, so please state them. What is the fact? A. That is what I am trying to give. I misunderstood your question there. YTou asked whether there would be a daily change or less than a daily change. I figured Ave had just about so many theatres that used film changing Monday, Wednesday and Friday, or Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Now, I don't know how many of them there are that only run one reel a week. Mr. Grosvenor : Mr. Examine^, go back to the an . swer on the cross examination, toward the beginning, when I asked him about his 246 theatres, and see what he gave. The Examiner refers to portions of the cross examination. Mr. Grosvenor: I read to you the answers you gave on your cross examination, and ask whether that is your testimony.