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 #:
000338
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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2788 Joseph L. Stiebel, Direct Examination. ing to co-operate with you in securing the kind of program you want for your customers? A. In every way. Any objection I make to a film is remedied by them and others supplied. Q. Were you ever connected with any other theatre at any time? A. Yes, sir. Q. What was the name of that theatre? A. The Orpheum Theatre. Q. Where was the Orpheum Theatre located? A. 9th and May, Kansas City. Q. How large a house was it? A. The seating capacity was 1,690. Q. What kind of a house was it at the time you were connected with it? A. A first class vaudeville theatre. Q. Was it exclusively vaudeville, or did it combine some motion picture acts with its program? A. It always had one or two motion pictures as an act. Q. During what period were you with the Orpheum Theatre? A. Between 1907 and 1910. Q. What kind of motion pictures did you display in the Orpheum Theatre during that period? A. Well, the pictures were gotten from Chicago. Q. Do you know from what exchange? A. They were gotten from a man by the name of Spoor. I think it was G. K. Spoor & Company. Q. Now, during that period while you were getting pictures from G. K. Spoor & Company, in Chicago, did you ever have any difficulty about getting the names of the pictures in advance so that you could advertise them with certainty to your customers? A. I don't recall as to that. I know that we would request a certain kind of picture, and that was the kind of picture that they sent us. Q. You designated it by classification rather than by title? A. Yes, sir. Q. Was there any special reason why you went to Chicago and took the service of Spoor? A. There was an exchange at Kansas City, but it did not give satisfaction. I did not know of this until after I came to the Orpheum. Our films always arrived by express on Sunday morning, and on this particular Sunday morning, the delivery had not been made, and we were a little bit nervous, and after the manager had sent out to the express company, it occurred to me as being rather strange that he should