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 #:
000199
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, Rbcross Examination. 2041) since they have paved the way as to what you may do, and say yon can do that, you lake an interest in it, and see the importance of it. Q. Could you find out with any certainty before you got your show what you were going to have at that time? A. A certain reel once in a while. Q. Was that about the limit of the certainty? A. Yes, sir, the only way I could find out was on the day I would take it, he would name ten or fifteen reels, and you would have to take from them. Q. That was on the day you took it? A. Yes, sir. Q. And now you know two or three weeks in advance? A. Yes, sir. Q. What you are going to have? A. Yes, sir. Q. And advertise it in advance? A. Yes, sir. Q. And on the day set out in the advertisement you show that program to the people of Mount Clemens? A. Yes, sir. Recross examination by Mr. Grosvenor: Q. Isn't it a fact that in those days, five or six years ago, or even four years ago, it never occurred to you to advertise? A. Well, no, only on special occasions it would. Q. Has not the business developed a lot since you went into it? A. Yes, sir, wonderfully. Q. When you first opened a motion picture theatre you never thought of putting an advertisement out as to what you were going to show in advance? A. No, sir. Q. The business had not developed to that extent? A. No, sir. Q. Isn't it a fact that this matter of advertisement in advance is more a development in later years? A. It has developed greatly, yes, sure. Re-examination by Mr. Kingsley: Q. It developed more rapidly after the General Film Company began to serve you did it not? A. It came right to a head then. Q. What you did ten years ago is not any criterion as to what you might have done four years ago? A. No, sir.