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 #:
000363
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 M. Gummings, Direct Examination. 2813 Q. Do they have more than one office in Texas? A. Yes, sir; each of them has more than one. Q. Will you tell us how their offices are distributed in the State of Texas? A. Well, they have an office in Oklahoma City, which serves a portion of northern Texas. One or both of them has an office in Sweetwater, known as a junk exchange, and one or both has a junk exchange at Amarillo, and one of them has an office in San Antonio. There is other competition besides the two so-called services. Q. Do each of these independent organizations have offices in Dallas? A. Yes, sir. Q. And these exchanges in Dallas, are they in competition with you? A. Yes, sir. Q. What other independent competition do you have in Texas? A. There is an exchange called the United States Amusement Company in Fort Worth. There is another exchange, in San Antonio, whose name I do not recall. There is the Robertson-Windham Exchange in Houston, and in Dallas there are the Southern Feature Film Program Association, and the Thrash Feature Film Company, the Texas Feature Film Company, and the Eclectic Feature Film Company. There may be others by this time. Q. You have been away some 48 hours? A. I have been away 24 hours. Q. Mr. Cummings, how many reels of film are released by the independent exchanges? A. The Mutual and the Consolidated— that is more familiar to me — the Consolidated — than the Universal, were handling or buying twenty-one reels a week each, and now I think are buying twenty-eight each. Q. By that you mean the name is more familiar to you? A. When we first took charge there they were the Universal, or known as the Consolidated, or Universal, and then somehow or other they changed the title to the Consolidated and Universal together, going under both names, and the name Consolidated stuck to me better than the name Universal. Q. So that these two are releasing fifty-six reels per week? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you know how many reels are being released by the other independent exchanges? A. Well, I don't think there is any other service represented in Texas that furnishes a program at all. These feature film companies do not furnish a program, a complete program.