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 #:
000141
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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James B. Clark, Direct Examination. 2591 Q. Did this sometimes happen? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did it frequently happen? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did your exchange, prior to the sale of its property to the General Film Company, ever serve an exhibitor who was running a licensed theatre, and at the same time was running an unlicensed theatre somewhere else? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did you ever have any difficulty on account of doing that? A. No, sir. Q. Was there any prohibition against your doing it? A. Not that I know of. Q. Do you observe the character and the quality of the licensed motion pictures that are now produced by the various licensed producers? A. Yes, sir. Q. Have you observed them carefullly from week to week since the time that you sold the property of your exchange to the General Film Company? A. Well, I have been in pretty close touch with them. Q. What would you say as to whether the character and quality and the artistic merit of the motion pictures produced by the various licensed manufacturers have improved or deteriorated? A. I would say they have improved. Q. Do you know whether or not there is competition between the licensed producers of motion pictures with respect to enlisting the good will of exhibitors, and inducing them to urge upon their exchanges, the desirability of using their brands? A. I would say there is, judging from the advertising they do in the trade papers. Q. Do you see their advertising? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do they advertise largely, and call attention to the merit of their particular brands? A. Yes, sir; they do. Q. Do these advertisements urge upon exhibitors the desirability of insisting upon these brands from their exchanges? A. Yes, sir. Q. Was the sale of the Pittsburgh Calcium & Light Company to the General Film Company, voluntary on your part? A. Yes, sir. Q. What do you say as to whether or not there has ever been any standard price for service to exhibitors by the exchanges? A. There has not. Q. Is it a matter or bargain with the exhibitors? A. Yes, sir ; it is.