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 #:
000441
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 O. Baumann, Redirect Examination. 2891 Q. And the several licenses of William H. Swanson had been cancelled? A. Yes, sir. Q. Had the license of the Globe Film Service been cancelled? A. I don't know whether they had a license or not. Q. Had the license of the Bijou Film & Amusement Company been cancelled? A. I don't know whether they had a license or not. Q. Is the Carlton Laboratories doing business to-day? A. Yes, under a new corporation. Q. What is the distributing agency for the films maim factured by that concern? A. The Mutual. Q. And are the reels manufactured by (he Carlton Laboratories included among the nine that are supplied the Mutual by the New York Miotion Picture Company? A. No. Q. Are you interested in the Carlton Laboratories? A. No. Q. To-day? A. No. Q. I wish you would get7 or ascertain for me, the exact date of the sale of the Empire Film Company to the Mutual Film Service, Mr. Baumann, and let me have it. And I will ask you at this time: What was the exact dale of the sale, and then you can supply the information later, and incorporate it in your answer to this question. I want the exact date. A. The date the contract was made, or the deal entirely consummated? Q. You had better give me the last. A. In other words, after the entire proposition had been turned over? Q. Yes. I want to know the date of the transfer of the business of the Empire Film Company to the Mutual Film Corporation. A. It was carried out in a progressive stock sale. Q. Did the Empire Film Company go out of business as a corporation, or did it simply sell the stock in that company? A. Sold its stock. Q. When was the Mutual Film Corporation organized? A. I don't know. Q. Is William Steiner in business to-day? A. Yes. Re-examination by Mr. Kingsley: Q. How much did you get for the Empire Film Exchange, if you care to answer? A. A fairly big amount of money that I do not wish to state — the amount.