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 #:
000190
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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2640 Oka L. Braley, Direct Examination. Q. Do you use any unlicensed film in your theatre at the present time? A. None at all. Q. During the period that you have been operating motion picture houses, have you been familiar with the price of service? A. Yes, sir. Q. How does the price today compare with the prices that you were paying in 1908 and 1909? A. I am paying more money at the present time, but I am getting more new reels. Q. Considering the fact that you are getting more new reels, how does the price compare with the prices in 1908 and 1909? A. I consider the prices today as less than it was four or five years ago. Q. What service were you using in 1908 and 1909? A. I was using the — Q. By that I mean, what kind of a service, what sort of a program? A. I was getting eight first-runs a week, and six second-runs, as they were called. They had been previously shown in that vicinity. Q. And what were you paying for those? A. I was paying— from the Kent Film Exchange, I was paying fllO.OO a week, and from the National Vaudette, I was paying 1100.00. Q. What service are you exhibiting now, and what are you paying? A. At the Princess Theatre, I am using — let me see — sixteen first-runs, and five second-runs. Twenty-one reels a week. Q. And the price? A. $180.00 a week. The charge on that service is only $140.00 a week for two houses, and I take some of the service away from another house, and put it in this house, and make that entry on my own books, but, really, the bills come in at $140.00. But on my Royal Theatre, the bills come in at $140.00, and I make the charge at $100.00, because of the fact that I take some of that service from the Royal Theatre. Q. What is the total aggregate price that you pay for the service for the three houses, net? A. $440.00 Q. $440.00? A. Yes. Q. And that comprises how many reels, altogether? A. It comprises 77 reels. Q. How many of those are first-runs? A. 49. Q. Now, going back to 1908 and 1909, you did not have three theatres, did you? A. No, sir.