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 #:
000581
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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Defendants' Exhibit No. 152. 3023 theatres which were active in the July checking were closed * in January. Mr. Geosvbnoe: So that, whereas he found twelve new theatres, he also found eleven dead ones? The Witness: Not dead exactly, but closed temporarily. Mr. Grosvbnob: Then I object to this exhibit (152) as misleading, and as incomplete, showring upon its face the number of new theatres discovered by Greene, and not showing the number that had been closed, and, therefore, an attempt to show an increase in the business, whereas, as a matter of fact, there had been none, owing to the closing of the eleven theatres, and I make the same objection to Defendants' Exhibit No. 151. The paper produced by the witness and offered in evidence by counsel for the defendants, is marked by the Examiner, "Defendants' Exhibit No. 152," and is as follows : Q Defendants' Exhibit No. 152. ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JULY, 1913, AND JANUARY, 1914, CHECKING OF TOWNS IN OHIO INVESTIGATED BY W. W. R. GREENE. Number of towns with theatres that Greene visited 98 Number of towns without theatres that Greene 'phoned or inquired about or visited 68 Number of theatres reported active July, 1913, as per mail checking 221 4 Number of theatres reported active January, 1911, as per visits of Greene 222 Difference between July and January 1 or i/>% gain. Number of new theatres (active) reported by Greene of which the M. P. P. Co. had no record 12