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 #:
000174
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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2G21 James W. Hunter, Cross Examination. 1 Cross examination by Mr. Grosvenor : Q. Mr. Hunter, you have just one theatre, as I understand you, at the present? A. Yes, sir. Q. And that is the Doris at Wilkinsburg? A. Yes, sir. Q. And when you opened you started with independent pictures? A. Yes, sir. Q. Which you exhibited for about five months? A. Yes, sir. Q. And then you began to exhibit the licensed pictures which you have shown ever since? A. Yes, sir. Q. Why did you change from one to the other? A. The film exchange that I was getting of, was sold out to my competitors, and I was told by the party that sold out that they were going to shut my service off, and he advised me to take the matter up with Mr. Willis, of Cleveland, Ohio, who he thought was the district manager of the General Film Company, and I wrote to Mr. Willis, of Cleveland, Ohio, and asked him where I could see him, or when he would be in Pittsburgh, and he wrote back and said he could not say, but if I would write him what I was wanting he would try and take the matter up, and in the meantime a friend of mine, who was running Association pictures, spoke to Mr. Mchols about it, and Mr. Mchols told him to have me come and see him, and I went in on the 25th of February — Q. Of what year? A. Of 1912, to see him, and I made arrangements to get pictures of him. Q. You had not been cut off at that time by the independents? A. No, I had not been cut off. Q. Do you find that the licensed pictures are more profitable to show in your theatre? A. Yes, sir, my trade commenced to pick up as soon as I put on the licensed pictures. Q. And that is the reason you have kept them? A. Yes, sir. Q. You feel it is necessary to have them in order to run your theatre prosperously and profitably? A. I do, yes, sir. Q. How many theatres are there in Wilkinsburg? A. There are three moving picture theatres, and one vaudeville house.