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 #:
000572
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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3014 H. M. Newsome, Direct Examination. the matter for a few moments, and he finally says : "What price have you got on it?" and I told him I had not put any price on it, that I wanted to get a proposition from him, and he asked me how many reels I was buying, and how many royalties I was paying, etc., and he went back into his private office for a few minutes and came back and made me a proposition to buy the exchange. Q. What was the proposition he made you? A. Do you mean the figures? Q. Yes. A. Fourteen thousand dollars. Q. How was that payable? A. In his first proposition he said so much stock in the General Film Company, and so much cash. Q. Do you remember how much stock and cash? A. Four thousand dollars of stock, and ten thousand dollars of cash. Q. Did you accept that price? A. Yes, sir, I did. Q. Did you discuss it any further after it was made? A. Yes, sir, I asked him another question or two. I asked him : "Do I have to take this stock?" and I said, "Is it compulsory?" and he said, "No, take all cash if you want it." Q. And what did you do after having that alternative? A. I told him I would take the four thousand dollars of stock and ten thousand in cash. Q. Were you satisfied with the price that was offered you? A. Perfectly. Q. Had you wanted to sell your business before that? A. Yes, I would have sold it most any time because the business was not profitable. Q. Was the sale entirely voluntary? A. Entirely so. Q. Did you know at that time that there was a clause in your exchange license agreement permitting the Patents Company to cancel your license on fourteen days' notice without cause? A. Well, I presume I did. It was in there, and I presume I knew it. Q. Did that operate on your mind in any way in determining the question of whether you would or would not sell? A. No, sir, because I never had heard of any license being cancelled except for the breaking of certain agreements. I never heard of any license being cancelled without a cause. Q. No threats whatever were made to you that if yon