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 #:
000197
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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Robert G. Peltier, Cross Examination. 2047 Q. Then you could have, if you had wanted to, advertised what you were going to show at that time without danger of your competitor showing the same thing? A. Yes, sir; for that particular time I could, when there was nobody using the same service. Q. But you didn't do it? A. Well, I could not do it. Q. And why not? A. I didn't know what I was going to get. Q. Were you getting any circulars from the different manufacturers, calling attention to what they were going to put out? A. That had nothing to do with it. Q. Were you getting any circulars from the different manufacturers, calling attention to what they were going to put out? A. Yes, sir. Q. And there was not anybody else using the same service as you in Mount Clemens? A. Xo, sir. Q. Why couldn't you have selected some of the things that they told you they were going to put out, and have advertised them? A. I didn't do business with the manufacturers. Q. Who did you do business with? A. The exchange man. Q. Could you have selected and ordered through the exchange man, a title of a picture that the manufacturer told you he was going to put out? A. Yes, sir; once in a while, I could. Q. Well, did you do it? A. I believe I did it on a few occasions. Q. You were able to advertise the different outputs, or the different pictures of the different manufacturers, before the General Film Company was organized? A. Well, I could not, because very seldom it was I could do that. Q. Didn't you take the trade papers? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did the manufacturers state in the trade papers what their productions were going to be in advance of the coming out of their productions? A. Yes, sir. Q. And there was nobody in opposition to you who was showing the same service in Mount Clemens? A. Xo, sir. Q. And you were buying these things the manufacturers stated they were going to bring out, you were buying them from the exchange men? A. Renting them. Q. There was not anything to prevent your advertising