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 #:
000149
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, Cross Examination. 259!) Pittsburgh, Pa., January 5, 1914, 2 P. M; The bearings were resumed, pursuant to adjournment, at 2 P. M., January 5, 1914, at the Fort Pitt Hotel, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The appearances were the same as at the morning session. JAMES B. CLARK, being recalled, already sworn, deposed as follows: Further direct examination by Mr. Kingsley: Q. Mr. Clark, has it been your experience at any time that exhibitors have taken unlicensed service in preference to licensed service, thinking that it was to the best interests of their business to do so? A. Yes, sir. Q. Has that happened frequently or infrequently? A. Well, 1 could hardly answer that. I am not in close touch enough with exhibitors to know, but I know, for instance, in one of my own houses, I done that because I found it was more profitable. Q. Did you do a better business after making the change? A. Yes, sir; I did. Q. You found it to your advantage to do so? A. Yes, sir. Q. And do you have any difficulty in carrying on a successful business in your independent houses? A. No, sir. Q. Now, you have some corrections, I understand? A. I want to make a correction on my testimony this morning when I stated that we were paying ten cents per foot to the Universal. We are paying eleven cents per foot. That is all. Cross examination by Mr. Grosvenor : Q. Mr. Clark, you took an important part in the formation of the Film Service Association, did you not? A. Yes, sir. Q. You were present in November, 1907, at a meeting in this hotel, where some of the manufacturers and a number of the rental exchange men met to consider the formation of an association which was ultimately formed and called the Film Service Association? A. Yes, sir. Q. After that meeting, there were various adjournments, until a second meeting was had at Buffalo in February, 1908, 1