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 (1914)

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:
1914
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 5
Leaf #:
000130
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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2580 James B. Clark, Direct Examination. Q. Did you receive this stock? A. Yes, sir. Q. Was tins stock delivered to you? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did this stock bear interest? A. Yes, sir. This was preferred stock. Q. This was preferred stock? A. Yes, sir. Q. What was the interest? A. Seven per cent. Q. Has the interest been paid since that time when due? A. Yes, sir. Q. After you sold to the General Film Company what business did you go into? A. Into the exhibition, or theatre business. Q. Had you owned any theatres prior to your sale of your property to the General Film Company? A. Interested in one. Q. What theatre was that? A. The Family Theatre, in Braddock, Pa. Q. Have you any objection to telling us how much interest you had in the Family Theatre, at Braddock? A. I had a one-third interest. Q. Do you recall the date of the sale of your property to the General Film Company? A. It was in October, 1910, I think. I think they took possession November 1st, 1910. Q. Did you thereupon begin to buy theatres, or an interest in theatres? A. Yes, sir, I did. Q. What theatres did you acquire? A. I acquired the Oakland Theatre, in Pittsburgh, the Schenley Theatre, in Pittsburgh, the Arsenal Theatre, in Pittsburgh, and the Crystal Theatre, in Braddock, and the Cameraphone Theatre in Belleview, the Cameraphone Theatre, on Fifth Avenue, in Pittsburgh, the Cameraphone Theatre, in Cleveland, the Casino Theatre, in McKeesport, and the Dreamland Theatre, in McKeesport, and the Altmeyer Theatre, in McKeesport. The other two were owned by Mr. Rowland ; he really owned them, the two in Wilkes-Barre, the Colonial, and the Rowland. Q. You owned part of them, and were interested in the others? A. Yes, but I had a very little interest in those. Q. What were the seating capacities of those various theatres? A. They vary from three hundred seats up. Q. The lowest had three hundred? A. Yes, sir. Q. Were there a number of them which had a seating capacity of three hundred? A. Yes, sir, several of them, three or four of them.