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 #:
000431
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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Charles < >. Baumann, Direct Examination. 2881 doubted the financial responsibility of many of them? A. That was one of the principal reasons. Q. Going hark to the list of buying exchanges appearing in the advertisement of the Motion Picture Distributing & Sales Company in the Motion Picture World of July 23rd, 1910, at page 170. I call your attention to the Albany Film Exchange which appears therein. Do you know who was the owner or manager of the Albany Film Exchange, 418 Broadway, Albany. New York? A. William Steiner. Q. Was Mr. Steiner a former member of the F. S. A.? A. Yes. Q. I call your attention to the R. & W. Film Exchange, 412 East Baltimore Street. Baltimore, Maryland. Do you know who owned that exchange, or was the manager of it? A. Yes. Q. Who? A. Herbert Miles. Q. Was Herbert Miles a former member of the F. S. A.? A. Miles Brothers was. Xew Y^ork and Frisco. Q. And was Herbert Miles a member of the firm of Miles Brothers? A. Y'es. Q. I call your attention to the Bijou Film & Amusement Company. 1222 Grand Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri. A. Yes. Q. Do you know who owned or managed that exchange? A. A man named Bachman. Q. Was Bachman a former member of the F. S. A.? A. Yes. Q. Do you remember the name of his former exchange? A. Twentieth Century Optiscope Company. Chicago. Q. I call your attention to the Dixie Film Company, 720 Maison Blanche Building, Xew Orleans, Louisiana. Do you know who owned that or operated it? A. Yes. Q. Who? A. Fichtenberg. Q. Was that formerly a licensed exchange? A. Separating the interests, Swanson-Dixie Film Company of Xew Orleans was the name when they had given up the service of the F. S. A., or the licensed manufacturers. Q. And Avas William Swanson one of the members of the firm at that time, when it was a member of the F. S. A.? A. Yes. Q. I call your attention to Eugene (line, 59 Dearborn Street, Chicago, Illinois. Who owned or operated that exchange? A. Himself.