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 #:
000389
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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E. Boehringer, Direct Examination. 2839 Q. What is the seating capacity of the Dreamland? A. Three hundred. Q. For how long have yon owned those two theatres? A. I have owned the Columbia since September, 1907. Before that I ran a theatre. The Dreamland I opened up about twenty months ago, a year and a half ago. Q. What service do you use in the Columbia and Dreamland? A. I use the licensed service, and sometimes the independent service in one of them. Q. From what rental exchange were you obtaining licensed motion pictures for the Columbia Theatre in 1910? A. The Importing Film & Supply Company. Q. Where were they located? A. At 810 Union Street, New Orleans. Q. How long did you continue to take service from that company? A. I started with Mr. Pearce, that is, the Importing Film & Supply Company, as soon as we commenced, buying eight reels a week, and I continued to stay with him until he sold out to the General Film Company. Q. While you were taking the licensed motion picture service from Mr. Pearce's exchange, were you able to announce a program in advance, and to advertise it? A. No, sir. Q. When would you know about the pictures that yon were to show the following week? A. I never did know until the train came in that morning about ten forty-five o'clock, and if the train was on time I knew it in time to put it in the paper, but if the train was an hour and a half late, I never did know it, and could not get it into the paper at that time. Q. After the General Film Company bought the stock and assets of Mr. Pearce's exchange did you then find it possible to announce a program in advance and to advertise it? A. Not at first, but right about, say three or four months after that, after I heard of it, I commenced to get my program in advance. Q. Have you generally got your program in advance since that time? A. Every Wednesday morning we get our program for both houses for the following week. Q. What do you do with respect to advertising it? A. It <>ives me a chance to get my magazine together, to make it up by Wednesday, and ^et it out by Saturday, and distri