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 #:
000185
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
Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

Jekemlaii J. Kennedy, Cross Examination. 3213 Q. On page 3195 of the printed record, on your direct examination, you testified : "Q. At the time of the organization of the General Film Company, was it your intention, or was it the intention of your associates, so far as you know, to acquire all the rental exchanges throughout the United States? A. It was not, and the growth of the business was something that we were entirely unprepared for." Have you anything you wish to add to that answer? A. Nothing whatever. Q. Let me ask you this question : At the time of the organization of the General Film Company, was it your intention, or was it the intention of your associates, so far as you know, to acquire all the licensed rental exchanges throughout the United States? A. It was not. Q. What Avas the purpose of making up the estimate which was made up before the General Film Company started in business, of the value of the business of all the licensed rental exchange's? A. I had nothing to do with the making up of any estimate except an estimate that was made very quickly for the purpose of aiding Mr. John Collier some time previously, in preparing a chart to show the magnitude of the motion picture business in this country, and its importance as a factor in modern life, as he put it. More particularly, in connection with a meeting of the Playgrounds Association, which was to be held some months subsequently, and which it was expected would be attended by 1,800 delegates, who were very desirous of considering the motion picture as a new factor to be reckoned with and utilized. Q. I direct your attention to Petitioner's Exhibit 78, printed at Volume 1 of the Record, page 251, being a letter addressed by you to Mr. William Pelzer, dated January 23rd, 1912, in which you say : "Some time before the General Film Company was organized, an estimate of the value of the business of exchanges leasing licensed motion pictures was made by men familiar with the manufacture of motion pictures, and also the business of exchanges. According to this estimate, the value of said business was $3,468,847." Did you make up that estimate? A. Mr. Collier and I made it up together at my office. Q. When was this made up? A. To the best of my recollection, it was about August or September, 1009. Q. Did you keep a copy of it? A. It was made on an ordinary scratch pad.