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)

Page scan 000213 from 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 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 #:
000213
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 12, 2024
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Joseph R. Denniston, Direct Examination. 2G63 Q. What kind of service did you use in the theatres in Paulding? By that I mean, did you use licensed or unlicensed service? A. Both. Q. Do you mean by that that you ran licensed service in one house, and unlicensed in the other? A. That is the way we run it, yes. Q. How were these houses located with reference to each other? A. They were directly opposite each other on the same street in the business district. Q. How many years did you run them with licensed and unlicensed service in competition? A. Well, now, I owned the Family Theatre. It was first known as the Theatorium. I owned that 2 or 3 years, and ran it 2 or 3 years before I bought the other one, and it is probably somewhere between 8 or 9 months or a year that I ran independent service in the AmuseYou. Q. While you were running the Family Theatre, and before you bought the Amuse-You Theatre, what service did you use, licensed or unlicensed? A. I used the licensed. Q. And from what rental exchange did you obtain your service for the Family Theatre? A. It was then known as the Theatorium. It was not known as the Family until I enlarged and remodeled it. Q. After it was enlarged and remodeled, what was its seating capacity? A. Two hundred. Before that time, they were both about the same, about 125 seats. And I got my service from Columbus, Mr. Melchior, the Ohio Film Exchange, and Mr. Kent in Toledo, and also at one time from Mr. Smith, when he had the Toledo Film Exchange. I got service from Dayton, Ohio, the Buckeye, Lake Shore. Q. Had you sold the Family Theatre and the Amuse-You Theatres at the time you opened in Monroe, Michigan? A. No. Q. So at one time you were running three theatres at once? A. At one time I had the three, yes. Q. At the time you were running the three theatres, was the General Film Company operating in this territory? A. Yes, sir; it was operating at that time. Q. From what source were you obtaining your motion picture supply for the theatre in Monroe, Michigan? A. When I bought the house, it was running independent, and T run it independent for some time, I don't know just how long, and then I changed it to the licensed.