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 #:
000622
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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2472 Chester W. Sawin, Redirect Examination. Q. What report do yon make as to the amount of the goods received by you from the manufacturer? A. The number of the films weekly. The name, number and make. Q. Do you send that to your New York office? A. We do. Q. You have nothing to do with the payment of the bill, yourself? A. We do not. Q. You rent these films according to the age? A. Age and exclusiveness. Q. Take your regular releases; you rent your various regular releases according to the age, and regardless of the name of the maker, or the character of the picture? A. I do not quite understand your question. Q. If you have ten pictures on the regular releases, each by a different manufacturer, and each of the same age, you rent each of those reels at the same price? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you have many exclusives? A. What do you mean by exclusives? Q. It is a term you used, yourself, I thought. A. Oh, a film first-run is exclusive. Q. You rent all first-runs at the same price, don't you? A. According to age. Redirect examination by Mr. Caldwell: Q. Who is it that orders the motion pictures for your branch? A. I do. Q. Are you controlled in any way, in your selection of pictures, by the home office? A. None whatsoever. Q. And does anyone connected witli the home office ever suggest or indicate to you that you take certain makes of pictures, to the exclusion of others? A. No, sir. Q. Or take some in greater quantities than others? A. No, sir. Q. Or that you exclude some entirely from your list? A. No, sir. Q. What governs you in the selection of your pictures? A. The wants of my customers. Q. Do the wants of those customers appear to vary from time to time? A. Yes, we have some weeks they will want certain pictures, and other weeks they will want other pictures. Q. And what is it that causes that variation in the de