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 #:
000606
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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3048 SlEiGMUND LUBIN, DIRECT EXAMINATION. 1 out this Edison license in 1908, several months, or a year? How long had you been back here? A. Nearly a year, or a year or two, a year, over a year; I don't remember that time when I got back. Q. Did you consider it necessary to have a license? A. Positvely. Q. Were any lawsuits pending against your company when it became a licensee of the Motion Picture Patents Company? A. No, all lawsuits ceased, and I was able to manufacture. Q. Were there any lawsuits against you at the time you took out a license which then ceased? A. When I took the license out all the lawsuits ceased. I had no more lawsuits. Q. After you took out an Edison license? A. Yes, sir. Q. Before you took out a Patents Company license were you threatened with any lawsuits? A. Quite many. It kept me broke. Q. Did you feel that if you didn't take out a license you would have to go out of the business again? A. I felt that way, would have to go out of business. 3 Q. Did you consult your lawyer as to the desirability of taking a license from the Motion Picture Patents Company? A. I did. Q. Was it after consulting with your lawyer that your company signed the license agreement? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you remember when you signed the license agreement witli the Motion Picture Patents Company on December 8th, 1908, that there was a meeting at which the other licensees were present at the office of the Motion Picture Patents Company? A. I don't know the date; I can't swear to any date. Q. I don't care so much about the date, but do you remem 4 ber that meeting? A. I most all the time was at all meeting. Maybe I missed one or two, I can't tell you. Q. Do you remember when you signed the Patents Company license? A, Yes, sir. Q. Was there a meeting on that day when you signed the Patents Company license? A. Very likely. Q. Do you know a man named James J. Lodge? A. James J. Lodge — T don't remember his name, but I must have seen him. Q. On the day that you took out a license with the Mo