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 #:
000350
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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1 2800 Henry R. Slocum, Direct Examination. HENRY R. SLOCUM, the next witness produced on behalf of the defendants, being first duly sworn by the Examiner, deposes as follows: Direct examination by Mr. Kingsley: Q. Where do you live? A. Fairfield, Illinois. Q. In what business are you engaged? A. Travelling representative of the St. Louis branch of the General Film Company. Q. How long have you been a representative of the St. Louis branch of the General Film Company? A. Since the first of January of last year. Q. Before that, in what business were you engaged? A. Travelling representative — well, just before I came with tin1 General, for a few months when I was off the road I was an exhibitor in Flora, Illinois. Just for a short time. Q. Before you went into the exhibition business in Flora, Illinois, in what business were you engaged? A. Travelling representative of the Standard Film Exchange at Chicago. Q. And how long were you with the Standard Film Exchange at Chicago? A. About ten months, I was there. Q. And prior to that, in what business were you engaged? A. Travelling representative of the Swanson-Craw ford Film Exchange at St. Louis. Q. How long were you with the Swanson-Crawford Film Exchange at St. Louis? A. Well, I was with the O. T. Crawford Film Exchange Company and the Swanson Film Exchange Company together about four and a half or five years. About five years I would say. Q. Were you travelling representative of the O. T. Crawford Film Exchange Company? A. Yes, sir. Q. Were you with the O. T. Crawford Film Exchange Company of St, Louis at the time of the cancellation of its license on or about July 19th, 1910? A. Yes, sir. Q. And how long prior to that time had you been a travelling representative of the O. T. Crawford Film Exchange Company? A. With the O. T. Crawford, about three and a half years, and the Swanson-Crawford Campany possibly a year and a half. The two exchanges together, I would say about five years. Q. Do you recall whether or not the Western Film