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 #:
000330
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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2780 Jacob Warner, Direct Examination. Q. What was the result of this change; what occurred after you made the change? A. We were a little ahead of the other party. Q. You had a program in advance of Mr. Pike at the Delmar Theatre? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did you continue to have a program in advance of his? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did the competition continue with the Delmar Theatre? A. Yes, sir. Q. What became of the Washington Theatre? A. It finally went out of business. Q. Why did it go out of business? A. He could not stand the competition because he had comparatively the same line of stuff, and he also had vaudeville, and we were strictly a picture house. Q. After you began to take service for the Washington Theatre from the Yale Film Exchange in Kansas City, did the Western Exchange do anything to assist Mr. Pike in getting an earlier program in the Delmar Theatre? A. They tried, of course, to keep ahead. Q. Did you still find that the unfortunate condition of duplicating programs continued more or less? A. Yes, sir. Q. During the time you were having this spirited competition with the Delmar Theatre were you still operating the Lafayette Theatre? A. Yes, sir. Q. And is that still in existence? A. Yes, sir. Q. Are you still operating it? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did you, at the time you changed from the O. T. Crawford Film Exchange to the Yale Film Exchange in Kansas City also change witli respect to the Lafayette Theatre? A. We did. Q. What, if anything, did you do with respect to getting a more satisfactory service from the O. T. Crawford Film Exchange before you began to take service for your two theatres from the Yale Exchange? A. I went to Mr. Crawford, and explained the condition, and offered him mare money, and lie stated to me that it was impossible for him to do that because he had theatres he had to proled, and Mr. Keller, who was then in charge of the office, threatened us that if we did he would put a first run service in ;i certain house light there close to us, and put us out of business.