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 #:
000379
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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Max Mildeir, Direct Examination. 2829 hibitor, do you quote him a sum for a complete program? A. Yes, sir. Q. What does the ordinary program consist of? A. In our territory, 21 reels. Q. How many subjects a day is that? A. Three subjects a day. Q. In furnishing such a program, do you try to give him a balanced program? A. I try to balance every program for each man with whom we are doing business. Q. What do you mean by balancing a program? A. Variety of subjects, such as comedies, dramas, Westerns, educational, scenic, topical. Q. Would it be feasible, in your judgment, in making up such a program, to distinguish between the different pictures therein as to merit and desirability, and then fix different values upon each picture, and carry out the resulting bookkeeping problem? Mr. Grosvenor: I object to that as leading. The Witness: It would be utterly impossible. By Mr. Kingsley: Q. Do you find it more feasible to furnish a program in the way you are now furnishing it? A. I think we are giving more satisfaction with the program we are furnishing now than we ever did before. Q. Do you ever find that the exhibitors prefer the pictures of one producer over the pictures of another? A. Very frequently. Q. Do they ever express such preferences to you? A. They frequently come in and ask for different makes. Q. What do you do under such conditions? A. Try to give them what they ask for. Q. Do the exhibitors ever object to a certain picture so positively that they prefer a picture in its place from another maker even though it be an older release? A. That happens frequently. Q. In referring to the age of a motion picture, do you refer to the copy or to the subject? A. The subject. Q. When an exhibitor selects a motion picture at your