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 #:
000148
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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2598 James B. Clark, Direct Examination. the exchange pays the producer? A. I don't think so. Oh, yes, it does. They charge by the foot. It is a fact. Q. So that a 950 foot reel might cost you |95.00, and a 1,100 foot reel would cost you fllO, of the same maker? A. Yes, sir. Q. But you would include them in the program at the same price to the exhibitor? A. Yes, sir. Q. I am going to ask you, Mr. Clark, a question which you may answer or not, as you like, because it goes to your private business. Is your independent exchange business profitable, or unprofitable? A. It is profitable. Q. Are you at the present time actively competing for new customers for your different exchanges? A. Yes. Well, we have our programs pretty well filled in our schedule. If a man drops off, we go after a new one to fill his place. Q. Do I understand that you are not trying to get additional or new ones just at present? A. Oh, yes, we have to try to fill up, if we have an opening. I am not familiar enough with it to tell you exactly what is doing in that line. We try to keep every day filled. Q. What do you mean by saying your programs are "well filled in," or "filled?" A. Well, for instance, in one exchange, we have three reels per day. They run up to a hundred, and twenty days, and after that we don't consider them fit to put on a schedule, and we frequently drop it there; and if there is any open dates in between, of course we solicit customers to fill in there. Q. Are your programs now in constant use? A. Yes, sir. There may be an open date occasionally. Q. If you took on a considerable number of new exhibitors would you be compelled to make a larger investment? A. Yes, we would be compelled to buy eighteen more reels. Q. Do you feel at the present time that you have all the exhibitors you can safely serve with eighteen reels? A. Just about, yes, sir. Thereupon at 12:50 o'clock P. M. the hearings were adjourned until 2 o'clock P. M., to be resumed at the same place.