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)

Page scan 000435 from 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 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 #:
000435
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 12, 2024
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Charles O. Baumann3 Cross Examination. 2885 Thereupon CHARLES O. BAUMANN, resumed the stand. Cross examination by Mr. Grosvenor: Q. Mr. Bauniann, when was it that the Empire Film Company sold out to the Mutual Film Corporation? A. In 1912.' Q. Can you give me more accurately the date? A. About July. Q. These thirty reels a week, which you testified were being released by the Empire Film Company, in 1912, were reels that you were buying from the manufacturers? A, Yes. Q. And how many of those manufacturers were manufacturers who went into the Universal? A. Who were at that time affiliated with the Sales Company? Q. And who later went into the Universal? A. A part of which went later into the Universal. Q. A number of them went into the Mutual? A. Into the Film Supply Company of America. Q. And the Film Supply Company of America was finally succeeded by the Mutual? A. No. Q. What became of the Film Supply Company? A. A number of the manufacturers had withdrawn from the Supply Company, and did business directly with the exchanges. Q. Well, then, what happened to the Film Supply Company? Is it still doing business? A. I believe not. Q. What became of its business? A. After half of the manufacturers had withdrawn from the Supply Company it left a number of them who had organized a company known as the Exclusive Film Corporation. Q. So that, the various manufacturers who made up those thirty reels are now scattered among the Universal, the Mutual, and the Exclusive Service Corporations? A. Yes, sir. Q. And today you sell the entire output of the New York Motion Picture Company, constituting nine reels a week, to the Mutual Film Corporation? A. We had given the Mutual Film Corporation exclusive — or made them our exclusive agent. Q. Then this output, that is. the entire output of the