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 #:
000376
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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2826 Max Milder, Direct Examination. think, Columbus, on March 1.0th, and got to New Orleans on the 13th, 1913. Q. What position did you take in New Orleans? A. I went on the road for them. Q. In what territory did you travel? A. For the General Film Company, New Orleans. The New Orleans branch of the General Film Company. Q. What territory did you cover while travelling on the road as representative of the New Orleans branch of the General Film Company? A. I covered the State of Louisana, one or two towns in Florida, a number of towns in Mississippi, Mobile, Alabama. Q. How long a time were you on the road? A. Approximately two months. Q. During that period, did you visit a large percentage of the customers of the New Orleans branch of the General Film Company? A. I covered the biggest part of the territory. Q. Did you find competition in that territory on the part of unlicensed exchanges? A. Conditions were practically the same in every territory where I have ever been. There has been as much competition with the independent companies in this section as there was in the section I came from. Q. After you ceased to travel for the New Orleans branch of the General Film Company, what position did you take? A. I was made manager of the New Orleans branch. Q. And have you since that time been manager of the New Orleans branch of the General Film Company? A. Yes, sir. Q. In your capacity as manager of the New Orleans branch of the General Film Company, have you come in contact with the exhibitors who are served by your exchange? A. The greater part of them, yes. The greater part of them. Q. Have you come in personal contact with the larger part of them? A. Yes, sir. I know quite a good many of them. Q. How many theatres are you serving? A. I should judge about 145. Q. Will you tell us how these theatres are distributed in the territory served by the New Orleans branch of the