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 #:
000534
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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2384 Calvin S. Edwards, Rkcross Examination. The Examiner reads the testimony as follows: "Q. All these theatres which yon serve, being 246, 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 change? A. Some three times a week, and some four." By Mr. Grosvenor: Q. That is right, isn't it? A. That is what I testified to at that time, but I did not understand that you wanted to include in there those that only run one day in a week. Q. How do you want to change those answers? Mr. Caldwell: Make whatever explanation you see fit. The Witness: Where I say seven there, I want to say I don't know how many there are that run less than a daily program. Those seven are theatres that change three and four times a week. By Mr. Grosvenor: Q. Well, then, in the former answer you stated that 239 theatres served by you make a daily change, isn't that correct? A. No. Q. Then, how many theatres do make a daily change? A. That I cannot tell you. If you have reference to those that run one day in a week, or two days in a week, I cannot give you that number, but they are included in the 246. Q. How many of those 239 theatres are open only one day in a week? A. I cannot tell you that. Q. Well, are any of them open only one day in a week? A. Some of them. Q. It is a very small per cent., isn't it? A. I should think it was.