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 #:
000353
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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Henry K. Slocum, Direct Examination. 2803 Q. Did you continue on the road for the Swanson-Crawford Film Exchange Company? A. Yes, sir. Q. At the time that the Swanson-Crawford Film Exchange Company was organized, did it have any stock of motion pictures on hand? A. A working stock? Q. Yes. A. Oh, yes. Yes. Quite a large stock. Q. What stock did it have? What did it comprise? A. In the way of reels, and so forth? Q. Yes. The amount and quality and character of the reels? And approximately, the number? A. Well, we had at — I could not say as to the number of reels we had. We had a very large stock and the very latest releases up until the time they lost their license, I understand. Q. But you had a large stock of film on hand? A. Oh, yes; I would say safely running up to three thousand reels. Q. This stock comprised, did it not, all the stock of the O. T. Crawford Film Exchange Company and the Western Company, which they had on hand July 19th, 1910? A. Yes, sir. Q. And what was the cash business, to the best of your knowledge, that was being done by the O. T. Crawford Film Exchange Company at the time of its cancellation? Mr. Grosvexor: I object. This witness has not been shown to have had any familiarity with the books, or in regard to the amount of business done by the Crawford Company. He was merely, as I understand, the traveling representative, or a traveling representative. By Mr. Kingsley: Q. Were you back and forth, in and out of St. Louis at that time? A. Yes, sir, every week — Q. In 1910? A. Yes, sir. Most every week. Q. Did you report to the O. T. Crawford Film Exchange Company each week that you returned here? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did you keep in touch with the business of the O. T. Crawford Film Exchange Company? A. Why, I kept in mind pretty much all the time what they were doing, yes.