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 #:
000557
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. Spoor, Direct Examination. 2999 Mr. Grosvenor : Objected to, as leading. The Witness: I never spoke a half dozen words to Mr. Lodge in my life. By Mr. Caldwell: Q. He says that it was talked about at that meeting, December 18th, 1908, that this was to raise a gigantic fund for the purposes of litigation, so that the individual manufacturers would not be called upon to contribute. Was anything like that said at this meeting? A. At that meeting Mr. Lodge attended? Q. Yes? A. It was not. We were simply listening to the contract being read and were discussing its points, and nothing more was said to prolong the time. In fact, it took nearly all the afternoon, and when it was finished it was close to dinner time and everybody left, and there was no discussion that I heard of, or know anything about, of that kind. Q. Do you know a man named William EL Swanson, a witness called on behalf of the petitioner in this case? A. Yes, sir. Q. How long have you known him? A. Possibily eight or nine years. Q. I will read you some of the questions put to the witness Swanson and the answers that he gave at pages 305, 306 and 307, Vol. I, of the record: "Q. Mr. Swanson, did you attend any meeting at the Republican Club the night before the first meeting of the rental exchanges at their hotel, the Imperial? A. I slept at the Republican Club two nights preceding that meeting. Q. Did any manufacturers of motion picture films come around to you there and talk with you about the conditions in the moving picture business? A. They did. Q. Among others, who came to see you? A. Mr. Selig, and Mr. Spoor, and Mr. Kleine. We all slept in the same room for two days and two nights. We stayed in the same room, rather." Did you and Mr. Kleine and Mr. Selig call on Mr. Swanson at the Republican Club at that time? A. Mr. Swanson was not a member of the Republican Club. Mr. Kleine and Mr. Selig and myself were stopping at the Republican Club, and are members of that club.