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 6
Leaf #:
000115
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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Anna S. Matthews, Cross Examination. 3147 Thereupon, ANNA S. MATTHEWS, resumed the stand l for cross examination. Cross examination by Mr. Gkosvexor: Q. Miss Matthews, what are the duties of this Information Division of the .Mo (ion Picture Patents Company, of which you are Supervisor? A. The principal duties relate to the records regarding motion picture theatres in the United States. Q. You are referring to the preparation of the tables, respecting which you testified on direct examination? A. 2 Yes. Q. What other records does the Information Division maintain? A. It maintains geographical records, according to the theatres in the different States. Then we have records according to the addressograph plates, for mailing lists. Q. Do you have any other records? Do you keep any other records? A. We keep records of the licensed exhibitors and of the independent exhibitors. Q. These records, which are now referred to, are records which are kept separate and distinct from these other & tables, respecting which you testified on direct examination? A. Yes, sir, they are kept weekly, and changes are made weekly in the records. Q. What other records do you keep? A. I don't just get what you mean by "what other records.-' Q. What other records, if any, does your Information Bureau maintain or keep from day to day, or from week to week? A. I think that is about all. Service records of the active and closed theatres. Q. How do you ascertain the names of the licensed theatres? Who furnishes those names? A. The exchanges report their customers; the licensed exchanges report their customers. Q. That is, each branch of the General Film Company sends in to you the names of its customers? A. Yes. Q. And that has been the practice all the time that you have been the supervisor of this Information Division? A. Yes, sir. Q. Before the General Film Company was organized