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 #:
000143
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. 2593 you would still have the same expenditures, but not the same receipts? A. Yes, sir. Q. In the independent exchanges with which you are now connected, do the exhibitors select their own programs? A. No, sir. Q. What system do you have for supplying programs in your exchanges? A. Well, we contract to give them, for instance, three reels per day, of certain makes and certain age. They have to take them after they contract for them. Q. Is that called the lock-reel system? A. Yes, sir. Q. Under this lock-reel system, the three reels stay together throughout their life, don't they? A. Yes, sir. Q. Now, Mr. Clark, how many of your theatres are running an unlicensed program? A. I believe seven of them. Q. And how many are running a licensed program? A. live. Q. Are you able to give us the names of your theatres which are running an unlicensed program, and the seating capacity of each? A. Yes — well, I don't know about the seating capacity. Q. Well, can you do it approximately? A. Yes. The Schenley Theatre, Pittsburgh, has 300 seats; the Dreamland Theatre in McKeesport has approximately 700 seats; the Casino Theatre in McKeesport has about 300 seats; the Altmeyer Theatre in McKeesport has 1,000 seats; the Rowland Theatre in Wilkinsburg has 1,400 seats; the Crystal Theatre in Braddock has 1,100 seats. That is six, isn't it? The other one is the Arsenal Theatre, 724 seats. It runs both. Q. That is the vaudeville theatre you spoke of? A. No, that is in Pittsburgh. It runs both services. Q. You run a composite service at the Arsenal Theatre? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you find it important as an exhibitor, to get service that does not conflict with the service of competing theatres? A. Yes, sir. Q. Mr. Clark do you, as a matter of fact, avoid conflicting service in the most of your theatres? A. Yes, sir. Q. Will you tell us how you do that? A. Well, the film exchange looks out for that. Q. Is that because your houses and your competitor's house take their service from the same film exchange? A. Well, not always.