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 #:
000546
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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2088 George K. Spoor, Direct Examination. Q. Do you recall about what time you started negotiations to get an Edison license? A. Yes, in January, 1908. Q. Whom did you see connected with that company? A. Mr. Moore — Alexander Moore — and Mr. Moore referred me to Mr. Gilmore, and then to Mr. Pelzer, and I finally concluded my license arrangement with Mr. Dyer. Q. Was anything said about the number of licenses to be issued and the amount of the royalty? A. Yes, I was informed there were seven licenses to be issued, and that the royalty would be one-half a cent a foot. Q. Did you subsequently become an Edison licensee? A. Yes, sir. Q. About what time? A. In the latter part of January, 1908. Q. Now, after becoming an Edison licensee, did you extend your business in any way, and if so, state in what ways you extended it? A. We did extend our business. We commenced to construct, or prepare, rather, a studio for doing interior work, and put in lighting equipment, and put in new machinery, and developed our plant, and prepared to go ahead and manufacture, which we did, and increased our business. Q. You also conducted an exchange at that time, did you not? A. I did, yes, sir. Q. What was the name of your exchange? A. George K. Spoor & Company. Q. Did that exchange become what was known as an Edison licensed exchange? A. Yes, sir. Q. And a member of the Film Service Association? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you recall about how much royalty you paid the Edison Company during the year 1908? A. That was the first year; I believe, in the neighborhood of six thousand dollars. Q. And in point of capital invested, did you state the amount of capital that you invested in 1908 in your plant, after you became an Edison licensee? A. About twenty-five thousand dollars, in the studio and plant. Q. Why did you take out an Edison license? A. Well, the Biograph lost the suit over the Warwick camera, and later Selig had lost his suit, and there was not much of any place else bo go, and it was lime to try to make some arrangement with the Edison Company, and I proceeded to do so.