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 #:
000411
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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William T. Murray, Cross Examination. 2861 programs while they were carrying on this fight? A. X there was always a house running with us as long as the4 Kinetograph Company was in business. Q. And by "running with us" you mean running the same pictures as yourself, and there was a conflict? A. Yes. It hurt business. It always hurls business when another house is running with you. That is, close together, in a small town like Atlanta. Cross examination by Mr. Geosvenor: Q. What happened to the Kinetograph Company? A. The Kinetograph Company, they went out of business. Q. Are you posted as to the different theatres which show moving pictures in Atlanta, the names of them? A. Yes, sir. Q. How many licensed theatres are there in the city? A. Now? Q. Yes. A. There's three that is running release day stuff, that is, reels just like the reels that are released today. After they have been run here in the town, I don't know how many theatres are running these pictures after I get through with them. Q. That is, there are three theatres that have first run pictures? A. Yes, sir. Q. Then there are other theatres which do not show them on the first run, but show them a few days later, or a few weeks later? A. Yes, sir. Redirect examination by Mr. Kingsley: Q. Are these three theatres re which you refer, downtown theatres? A. Yes, sir; on Whitehall Street. Two on Whitehall and one on Peachtree. Q. The other theatre- to which you refer as possibly this service long afterwards, are in the outlying districts, are they not? A. Most of these theatres would not take t'i: first run stuff if they could gel it. they run vaudeville in i nection, and they make the pictures as a Kind of a second issue. They feature the vaudeville part. Q. But they are no1 in the neighborhood of the three theatres to which you have referred? A. Well, some '>[' them are, but then of course they do not hurt our business, ami I