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 #:
000347
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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Joseph Mocilek, Direct Examination. -TOT Q. During the period you have operated your present theatre, and since May 4th, 190T, have you been familiar with the prices of licensed service to motion picture houses in the City of St. Louis? A. Yes, sir. Q. How do the prices that you are now paying for your licensed service secured from the General Film Company compare with the prices that you paid for the licensed service secured from the Crawford Exchange? A. I do not find any change at all, about the same. Q. You say the prices range about the same? A. Yes, sir. Q. How long have you been using the unlicensed pictures in your program? A. Well, I have used them right along. When I want a picture, one that I felt like that I wanted to try out, why I did it, so as to be satisfactory to myself, to see whether it would take with my people. I make it a study to see what my people want. Q. And have you from time to time during the past three or four years used the unlicensed pictures? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you select complete programs for your Family Theatre? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you choose them yourself? A. Yes, sir. Q. Are you able to advertise and announce a program in advance? A. Yes, sir, as far as is necessary to satisfy my people. Q. How long a time in advance can you announce your program? A. I never want to announce it more than for a period of four or five days. To announce it too long in advance it becomes monotonous to my people, and it is not necessary for me in the neighborhood I am in. Q. Do you find that the General Film Company co-operates with you in furnishing a program such as you desire for your customers? A. I have never had any trouble. Q. Mr. Mogler, do you have any unlicensed theatre in your neighborhood or vicinity? A. There is the Dreamland Theatre near me, about six blocks away. Q. Do you know the seating capacity of the Dreamland Theatre? A. About twelve hundred or thirteen hundred, somewhere along there. Q. Does it run an unlicensed program altogether? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you notice any competition; is there any competition between you and that theatre? A. I have got to go some to keep up with them for they put on an awfully