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)

Page scan 000186 from 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 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 #:
000186
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 12, 2024
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3214 Jeremiah J. Kennedy, Cross Examination Q. I say, did you keep a copy of it? A. No, there was no occasion for keeping a copy of it. Q. You did not keep a copy of any part of it? A. I probably had a scratch pad memorandum of it. Undoubtedly had at the time I wrote that, just the same as I had lots of other memoranda. I have looked — I brought all such memoranda as I have along with me today. I do not believe that is in it. I will look and see, if you want me to. Q, Did you keep a copy of the estimate which you say you and this man Collier made up? A. The scratch pad memorandum was retained just as I retain all memoranda. There was no formal estimate made. They were figures put down during a conversation and discussion lasting probably an hour or two. Q. Well, did you give Mr. Collier any paper — A. I gave Mr. Collier no paper whatever. Mr. Collier departed with the information that had been developed or the opinions or conclusions that had been developed during our discussion, not only with relation to exchanges, but also with relation to theatres and manufacturing and importing. Q. Then you gave Mr. Collier no paper of any kind? A. I did not. Q. And no report of the value — A. No. Q. Of anything? A. No. Q. The information that you gave him was purely oral, was it? A. I did not supply information. These figures were arrived at during a joint discussion. Q. Then, if you gave Mr. Collier no written estimate, you did not keep any copy of any written estimate? A. I always keep copies of whatever memoranda I make for a certain length of time, until there is no probability of their being of any further use, and I have special facilities in my office for keeping such memoranda and other data. Q. Well, let me ask you this question: Was the estimate and value of all exchanges leasing licensed motion pictures which was made some time before the General Film Company was organized, was that estimate preserved by you? A. The memorandum or pad upon which the figures were jotted down as we talked the subject over, was kept until my departure from the General Film Company, possibly later. I brought an envelope along, which I find has some such information in. It may have this esti