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 #:
000583
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. 153. 302r> Number of theatres reported active July, 1913, as per * mail checking 95 1 Less 7% 67 Number of theatres estimated to be in existence December, 1913, on the basis of the Georgia checking made by W. W. R. Greene * 881 Number of theatres testified by William C. Brandon.. 620 Number of theatres estimated to exist in excess of William C. Brandon's testimony 26 i By Mr. Kingslby: Q. On the occasion of your first examination on February 21th, 1911, you furnished a statement which had been compiled under your supervision and direction, showing the number of places in the United States in which motion pictures were exhibited as of July 21st, 1913, and which is in evidence, marked "Defendants' Exhibit No. 144." Did you also, in the course of your duty, prepare statements covering the same territory in respect to motion picture houses as of October 31st, 1910, as of January 30th, 1911, as of July 3rd, 1911, as of December 18th, 1911, and as of July 7th, 1912? A. Yes, sir. Q. Were these statements accurately made from the lists in your possession, which you had revised from time to time by following the investigating processes which you have described in your direct examination? A. Yes, sir. Q. I show you five tabular statements, purporting to show the number of motion picture houses in the United States, and bearing the dates mentioned in the preceding question, Do you identify them as the statements to which you have referred? A. Yes, sir. Q. Were these tables made up under your supervision and direction from the original reports in the books to which you have referred? A. Similar statements to these were made up. Q. Are they correct transcripts of those statements so far as the totals of motion picture houses in the United States are concerned? A. Yes, sir.