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 #:
000573
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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n. M. Newsome, Direct Examination. 301! did not sell, the General Film Company would by means of its great resources put you out of business through its competition? A. That question was not raised at all Q. Was there any agreement made that you should continue in the employ of the General Film Company, as manager? A. No, sir, nothing said about it. Q. Or any agreement that you should not remain in the film business or continue in the business? A. No, sir. Q. Do you know whether or not there was available a sufficient supply of unlicensed film to enable you to continue in the business of a rental exchange? A. Yes, sir. Q. If you had so desired? A. Yes, sir, there was. Q. And how did you happen to know that? A. My manager had suggested that we go over to the independents. Q. How long before had he suggested that? A. It was that year, some time during that year. He had taken it upon himself to write some of the independent manufacturers and asked them if we could buy their products at that point, and they replied, saying we could. Q. Did your manager want to change the service? A. Yes, sir, he wanted to go over to the independents. Q. Have the different payments on your contract with the General Film Company been promptly met as they became due? A. Yes, sir. Q. Have you received the dividends on your stock? A. Promptly. Q. Did you have a conversation with Mr. Boone and Mr. Bailey after their return to Birmingham, from New York, and after they had sold their exchange to the General Film Company? A. Yes. Q. On the subject of the price? A. Yes, sir. Q. What did Mr. Boone say to you? A. In regard to the price? Q. Yes. A. He told me that he had sold and also told me the price. Q. What did he say about the price? Did he say whether or not it was satisfactory? A. Y(es, he said the price was satisfactory. He said it was more than he had expected to get. Q. Did you have a conversation with Mr. Bailey? A. We all discussed it at the same time, Bailey, Boone, and myself. Q. What did Bailey say? A. He seemed to be of the same opinion. He was tickled to death with the sale.