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 #:
000328
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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27TS Jacob Warner, Direct Examination. Q. Do you own or operate a motion picture theatre? A. One theatre at the present time. Q. Will you tell us the name of that theatre and give us the seating capacity of it? A. The LaFayette Theatre, seven hundred. Q. Have you owned any other theatres at any time, and by that I mean motion picture theatres? A. I was connected with a corporation that owned them, yes, sir. Q. What corporation was it? A. The Independence Amusement Company. Q. Were you a stockholder in the Independence Amusement Company? A. Yes, sir. Q. Were you an officer? A. Yes, sir. Q. What theatre or theatres did the Independence Amusement Company, of which you were a stockholder and officer, operate? A. The Washington Theatre, located on Delmar and Kings Highway. The LaFayette Theatre, at 1645 South Jefferson Street. Q. Any other? A. That is all. Q. What was the seating capacity of the Washington Theatre? A. Seven hundred and fifty. Q. What was the seating capacity of the LaFayette Theatre? A. Seven hundred. Q. When did the Independence Amusement Company operate the Washington Theatre? A. Back, somewhere in 1909. I think the early part of it. Q. When did the Independence Amusement Company cease to operate the Washington Theatre? A. In 1912 I think. Q. What kind of motion pictures did the Washington theatre use, licensed or unlicensed? A. It was called licensed. Q. »From what source did the Washington Theatre obtain its licensed motion pictures? A. From the O. T. Crawford Film Exchange at that time. Q. During the period that the Washington Theatre was obtaining licensed motion pictures from The O. T. Crawford Film Exchange what competition did it have in its immediate vicinity? A. We had the Delmar, called the Delmar Theatre, a small place called the Vaudette, and the Novelty Theatre. Q. Who owns the Delmar Theatre? A. Mr. Pike.