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 000593 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 #:
000593
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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Herbert C. Wales, Cross Examination. 2443 tion pictures varied from time to time in quantity? A. * By that you mean, would I buy more from one manufacturer? Q. Yes. A. Yes, sir. Q. And sometimes you have preferred the releases of one manufacturer over the releases of another manufacturer? A. Yes, sir. Eecross examination by Mr. Grosvenor: Q. How many copies of the Edison makes are you buying now? A. I can't give you that exact, from memory. 2 Thereupon HERBERT C. WALES resumed the stand. Cross examination by Mr. Grosvenor : Q. Mr. Wales, you are the manager of the Albany office? A. Yes, sir. Q. Are there any exact territorial lines that mark out your district from the territory of the adjoining branches of the General Film Company? A. I would not say exact lines, no, sir. Q. There are certain towns which may be supplied with the same facility from another branch, as by your branch? A. Not with the same facility. It is usual, in territories that adjoin each other and come together, that the facilities generally gauge the placing of the business; that is, if the shipping facilities are better from Boston into a portion of Massachusetts, why, they take the account. If the shipping facilities are better from Albany, we take it, but that is only in the western part of Massachusetts. We do not go any further east than that. Q. What agencies of the General Film Company are there which border upon your agency? A. The Boston office, the New York City branches, and the Buffalo branch, and the Wilkes-Barre branch. Q. You have not any hard and fast agreement with the managers of those offices that you shall not go into certain towns? A. No, no hard and fast agreement. Q. Then, if you find a theatre in a town that you think