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)

Page scan 000591 from 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 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 #:
000591
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 12, 2024
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Samuel H. Shirley, Redirect Examination. 2441 Q. Do you keep any sort of a record in your office of the names of the theatres? A. Not at the present time. Q. Mr. Shirley, will you state who it is that orders the pictures for your branch? A. I do. Q. Are you controlled in any way in your selection of pictures by the home office? A. No, sir. Q. Do they undertake to interfere with you in any way whatsoever? A. No, sir. Q. Or tell you to take the pictures of one manufacturer, or producer, or all? A. No, sir. Q. In point of fact, do you take the entire output, that is, all the releases of every one of the licensed manufacturers? A. No, sir. Q. Do you take more than one print of any given subject? A. No, sir. Q. What is it that controls you in the selection of your subjects? A. The demands, or the requests of the exhibitors. Q. Do you find that the popularity of certain makes of pictures varies with your customers? A. Yes, sir. Q. Is it a fact that sometimes one make is more popular than at other times? A. Yes, sir. Q. And in making your selections, do you always conform to the demand of your patronage? A. Yes, sir. By Mr. Kingsley : Q. Is the price of film to the exhibitor governed by the age? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you find that when you have films of the same age made by the different producers, that the exhibitors show preference for the pictures made by one producer over the pictures made by another producer? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do they express that preference to you? A. Yes, sir; sometimes. Q. And do you try to gratify that preference? A. Yes, sir; sometimes. Q. In sending in your orders to the producers, are you governed largely by the preferences of your customers? A. Yes, sir. Q. How long have you been in the motion picture business? A. Since Februarv 1st, 1909.