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 #:
000552
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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2(J')1 Geokgei K. Spook, Direct Examination. representing an expenditure possibly of over six hundred thousand dollars. By Mr. Caldwell: Q. As compared with how much of an investment in 1908, before you became a Patents Company licensee? A. Twenty-five or thirty thousand dollars. Q. How many studios did you say you had in Chicago? A. We have two. Q. And one in California? A. One in California, yes, 2 sir. Q. What would you say, from your experience, is the relative amount of increased cost of negative production now over what it was in January, 1900? A. From three to five times more. Q. Has there been a corresponding increase in the number of prints which you release from each subject? A. No, there has been a decrease. Q. What percentage of decrease would you say since then? A. Oh, as much as half. Q. What percentage of pictures produced by your company are of purely theatrical subjects, such as dramas, comedies, etc., as distinguished from scenic, topic or educational pictures, or scientific pictures? A. Fully ninety-five per cent, are produced by actors, taken from the theatrical profession. Q. You are a Director of the General Film Company, are you not? A. Yes, sir. Q. How long have you been a Director? A. Since its organization. Q. What part, if any, did you take in the organization of that company? A. I was one of the incorporators. Q. Do you recall when the project of organizing a rental agency by the licensed producers was first discussed? A. Some time previous to its organization, some short period, two or three months may be. Q. Do you recall the date of its organization? A. Yes, sir, in April, 1910. Q. Now, with that date in mind, about how long would you say the project was first discussed, or you heard it first discussed? A. Oh, I would say some time in January.