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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 #:
000564
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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2414 William C. Pkeller, Cross Examination. district which are in competition with other districts of the General Film Company? A. Yes, I do. Q. That is, there are customers in your district who might be served with perhaps the same facility by Mr. Pearson's branch? A. Yes, sir. Q. There are other customers who might be served with the same facility by other branches of the General Film Company? A. Not in the particular district that I put my stuff. Q. Is he the only neighbor you have? A. No. Milwaukee could go down into Iowa if they so desired, but it is not advisable. Chicago, of course, reaches the eastern part of Iowa on the river. Q. So the Chicago branch office also reaches down into Iowa? A. On the river point. Three or four river points. Q. When you testified that there are 670 motion picture theatres in your territory, you referred to the number on your mailing list? A. I take that number from my card file system. Practically a mailing list. Q. You circularize such exhibitors located in Iowa as you think may be served with facility by your office? A. Yes, sir; providing I have a record that Omaha is not supplying that particular town. Q. But if there is a theatre in Iowa which you think can be readily served from your office, and which is not being served by any other branch of the General Film Company, you will circularize that theatre? A. Yes, sir. Q. Are these 289 theatres served by the Minneapolis branch, as testified by you on page 2270, all theatres which take a daily or triweekly service? A. I have included on that record every account that I have handled for one day or more. Q. How many of those take one-day service? A. I should judge, about ten. Q. In this territory, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, northern Iowa, and northwestern Wisconsin, are there not a large number of small towns which have store room shows or places where pictures are exhibited only once a week? A. Quite a number, yes. Q. Those have all been included in this 670, being the total number of theatres, just as you have included in your 289 the ten theatres that take1 service from you only once a week? A. Yes, sir, I have included in that list any record