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 #:
000395
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
Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

Howell Graham, Direct Examination. 2845 Q. What do you mean by that? A. I was using one reel up to that time, per day. Q. For how much? A. And I paid anywhere from $45 to |55 per week for six. Q. That was six reels a week? A. Yes, sir. Q. What are you paying now? A. Now, I am paying $45.00 for 12, and $40.00 for another twelve reel service. Q. What kind of projecting machines do you use? A. Edison. Q. In all your theatres? A. Yes, sir. Q. Have you ever used any other kind? A. No, sir. Cross examination by Mr. Grosvenor: Q. These picture films that you use, Mr. Haas, are shipped from Atlanta, down to Charlotte? A. Yes, sir, every day. Q. Then, when you are through with them, you ship them back every day? A. Xo, they go on a circuit. I ship them to Asheville, North Carolina. Mr. KiNGSLBY: Mr. Haas, you wanted to make a correction in your testimony. What is it? The Witness: I am paying $50.00 each for the service in the two houses, and $40.00 at the other house. Mr. Grosvenor: Then you pay $140.00 per week for your service? The Witness: Yes, sir. HOWELL GRAHAM, the next witness produced on behalf of the defendants, being first duly sworn by the Examiner, of lawful age, deposes as follows : Direct examination by Mr. Kingsley: Q. Where do you live, Mr. Graham? A. Chattanooga, Tennessee. Q. How long have you been a resident of Chattanooga? A. When I went there to open up in January, 1906. 4