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 #:
000549
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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George K. Hroou, Direct Examination. 2991 Q. Did that competition continue after you became a 1 Patents Company licensee? A. Yes, sir. Q. Are you in competition with the other producing licensees of the Motion Picture Patents Company? A. Yes, sir, it has always continued. Q. In the same respects? A. Only more so. Q. What is the extent of the competition between you and the other licensed producers and the independent producers, so-called? Is that competition of the same character? A. Yes, it is of the same character, and it seems to he even stronger than at any time in the business at 2 this time. You are asking about the present time? Q. Yes? A. We have a difficult time keeping our people. The other concerns are offering them all kinds of inducements to leave us, and in several instances they have accepted engagements at twice or more, and sometimes three or four times the amount of salary, and they outbid us on photo plays or productions, and they buy them and run the prices way up — and in fact, I should say, the competition is stronger than it ever has been in every way. I do not see how it could be considered otherwise. Q. Is there any competition for the services of stage o directors or scenic artists? A. Yes. Now, that applies to them the same as to the actors and actresses and to the other people, even in the mechanical department. Q. Have you had any personal experience with respect to the taking away of your actors and actresses by your competitors? A. I am continually having that experience. It commenced with the almost cleaning out of my plant, back four or five years ago. They took forty-seven people out of sixty out of my plant. Mr. Grosvexor: Whom do you mean by "they?" 4 The Witness: I mean the independent concern called the American Film Manufacturing Company, in that one instance, including my factory superintendent, and directors, and actors, and photographers and developing men. In fact, they just left me nothing, and 1 was compelled to go into Court and get an injunction to stop them from breaking up my business.