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 #:
000447
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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John Collier, Direct Examination. 2897 hundred and forty members. The members of the Censoring Committee are also not paid for their services, and are not allowed to have any interest in the film business. The only paid agents of the Board are its secretaries, who do not vote on the films, or policies, or on any other matter. The Board's expenses relate to the payment of secretaries, rent, a stenographer, etc. These expenses have been all along met in the main by the trade interests. There have been periods when it has been necessary to go to the general public for contributions. Q. At the beginning of the censorship, what interests contributed towards the expenses? A. For the first three months the expenses were met by the New York exhibitors. The Board then became National, and the Motion Picture Patents Company began contributing at the rate of |450 per month, and for about a year there was no other contribution, although the independents were invited to contribute. Q. During that year were you censoring the independent films? A. Yes. Q. And at the expiration of a year or thereabouts, the independents began to contribute? A. Yes, sir, they began to contribute at the beginning of 1911, and have been contributing more or less since that date. The total contributions to the Board from the trade interests down to January 1st, 1911, were $25,541 from the members of the Motion Picture Patents Company, and $3,047.50 from members of the independent groups. In addition, the People's Institute contributed something over $5,000 in free executive services during this time. Do you want any more information about that? Q. Yes, go on. A. The Motion Picture Patents Company increased its contribution from $450 to $900 per month. This increase was based on a plan that the Board had adopted for encouraging the general regulation of motion picture shows, and the more extensive use of educational motion pictures. The independent companies, while they did submit their films since the beginning of the work, have only recently begun to contribute anything like a fair share to the censorship, and at present the total independent contribution is $350 per month, and the Motion Picture Patents Company's contribution is $900, whereas the reels censored for the independent companies in January, 1914, were five hun