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 #:
000314
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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2704 Floyd Brown, Rmjross Examination. Recross examination by Mr. Grosvenor: Q. Mr. Brown, you gave on redirect the number of theatres in your territory as 430. You have included in that number of 430, a large number of so-called junk shows, or places described by you on cross examination as store room shows? A. Several, yes. Q. Well, it is more than several, isn't it? A. Well, you will notice some of those are marked feature. And Junk. Q. Those that are marked "junk" are store room shows, aren't they? A. Yes, sir. Q. You have included a large number of store room shows, haven't you, in that 430? A. Yes, sir. Q. You have also included a number of shows which exhibit only features? A. Yes, sir. Q. Are shows which exhibit only features, open as regularly or are they as well established in business as the houses which show regular changes of program and take your service? A. Yes, sir. Q. How many junk places have you given among that 430? Please refer to your memorandum and count them. A. 21. Q. And how many places where features only are shown have you included on that list? A. 16. Q. Then, that would make the number of theatres 429 instead of 430? A. Yes, sir. Q. And the balance, then, is made up, according to your memorandum, of 97 Mutual and 109 Universal features? A. Yes, sir. Redirect examination by Mr. Kingsley: Q. Where you have listed some of these unlicensed theatres under the heading "junk," do you mean by that that they are so small and insignificant that they do not exhibit to customers from time to time? A. No, sir. They may be a better house than a house using higher class service. Q. Do some of these junk shows show one evening after another all the week? A. T believe most of them are showing daily excepting Sunday. Q. Does it ever happen that a so-called junk show