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 #:
000357
Language:
English
Collection:
Early Cinema and Government & Law
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 R. Slooum, Direct Examination. 2S07 Q. Do they have exchanges here? A. Yes, sir. Q. How many? A. Each have an exchange. Q. How many releases do the Universal furnish each week? A. I think they are releasing now twenty-seven reels or twenty-eight reels, something like that. Q. How many subjects is the Mutual releasing now? A. About the same. Q. What is the total number or the aggregate number of releases — A. That is not subjects. They are not releasing twenty-eight subjects, but twenty-eight reels. Q. How many do both companies release at the present time? A. The two independents together? Q. Yes. A. You can figure on twenty-eight reels each. Fifty-five, fifty-six, or fifty-eight, somewhere in that neighborhood. Q. How many reels is the General Film Company releasing at the present time? A. From fifty to fifty-two. Q. During the years you have been travelling in this territory have you observed whether or not there have been changes in the exhibitors? A. Oh, yes, very largely so. Q. In your territory have you kept in touch with the exhibitors? A. Yes, sir. Q. Have you known of the changes that have occurred from time to time in the various houses which you have served? A. Yes, sir. Q. Xow, what percentage would you say of the exhibitors you were serving in 1910 and the latter part of 1909 are still in the business? A. Why, I think twenty per cent, would cover it easily. Q. Do you solicit houses now which are using the unlicensed service? A. Yes, sir. Q. And try to get them to take the licensed service? A. Yes, sir. Q. And do you occasionally get such a house? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do the representatives of the unlicensed exchanges solicit the houses which you are serving? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do they occasionally get some of your customers away from you? A. Yes, sir. Q. How does the record stand with respect to this competition, do you get more houses from them than they get from you or are the figures about equal? A. It is about equal. They are growing some, of course.