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 #:
000175
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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0. K. Jones, Direct Examination. 2625 Thereupon, C. K. JONES, the next witness called by the defendants, of lawful age, being first duly sworn by the Examiner, deposed as follows : Direct examination by Mr. Kingsley: Q. Where do you live? A. Pittsburgh, Pa. Q. What business are you engaged in? A. Moving picture business, exhibiting. Q. Do you own a theatre? A. Well, I own a lease. Q. What theatre are you operating under a lease? A. The Novelty Theatre. Q. Where is that located? A. On Federal Street, North Side. Q. What is its seating capacit}* ? A. Five hundred. Q. How long have you had it? A. About three years. Q. Before that, were you connected with any theatres? A. Yes, sir. Q. What were they? A. I was connected, first, with a theatre in Wilkes-Barre, and then, one in Scranton, and then I had a third one on Smithfield Street, and two on Fifth Avenue. Q. You mean, one on Smithfield Street, and two on Fifth Avenue, in Pittsburgh? A. Yes, sir. Q. What were the names of the ones on Fifth Avenue? A. One was called the Hippodrome, and one the Idle Hour. Q. What were the seating capacities of the Hippodrome, and the Idle Hour? A. Of the Hippodrome 425 and the Idle Hour, 210. Q. How long have you been in the motion picture business altogether, in Pittsburgh? A. About seven or eight years. Q. From what rental exchange were you taking service before the formation of the General Film Company? A. Why I was taking from the Pittsburgh Calcium Light for one of my theatres, and I was taking from a man by the name of Swaab, in Philadelphia, for another. Q. What theatre were you taking service for from Mr. Swaab? A. The Greenland Theatre in Scranton. Q. Did you have more than one theatre in the vicinity of Scranton? A. Not at that time. Q. Did you supply a circuit in Scranton? A. Yes, sir, I had had a circuit there of four or five houses.