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 #:
000179
Language:
English
Collection:
Government & Law and Early Cinema
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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C. R. Jones, CROSS Examination. 2029 Q. Have you any opinion as to whether the service has improved in these respects? A. I think the service has improved right along. Q. In dealing with the unlicensed exchanges do you have any difficulty in getting a fixed program in advance? A. With the Photo-Play I have not, but with the Weiland Film Company I have had a great deal of trouble. Q. Did you have them straighten it out, and see that you got the program? A. No, sir, it was impossible to straighten it out, but I did the best I could. Q. Did this fact have something to do with your leaving the independent service? A. No. When the Weiland Feature Film Company took the field they promised to give us a feature every day, and they gave us our advertising free with it, and that was the inducement to get us to take service from them, but they could not live up to their agreement. Q. Did you have any difficulty in changing to the licensed service when you wished? A. I have been taking the licensed service since they began, and I didn't have to change. Q. I mean in your unlicensed house? A. They let me run the licensed films in the unlicensed, house. Q. Did you run the unlicensed film in your house in connection with the licensed service? A. Yes, sir, ran it for the last six months. Q. ITow long had you done it previous to that time, if at all? A. Not until within the last six months. Q. You mean not until within the last six months? A. Yes, sir. Q. What kind of projecting machine have you been using? A. A Simplex and a Powers No. 6. Q. Have you used this kind right along since yon have been in the business? A. Always used a Powers No. 6 until a year ago, when T put in a Simplex. Cross examination by Mr. Grosvenor: Q. Mr. Jones, you have only one theatre today? A. Yes, sir. Q. You have always shown only licensed pictures in that theatre? A. Yes, sir.