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 #:
000327
Language:
English
Collection:
Early Cinema and Government & Law
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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United States Patent Office. THOMAS A. EDISON, OF LLEWELLYN PAKK, NEW JERSEY. KINETOSCOPE. SPECIFICATION forming part of Reissued Letters Patent No. 12,037, dated September 80, 1902. Original So. 589,16b, dated Angnst 31, 1897. Application for reiaane filed Jnne 10, 1902. Serial ¥c 110,987. Division A. REISSUED To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, Thomas A. Edison, a citizen of the United States, residing at Llewellyn Park, in the coauty of Essex and State 5 of New Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Kinetoscopes, (Case No. 928,) of which the following is a specification. The purpose I have in view is to produce io pictures representing objects in motion throughout an extended period of time which may be utilized to exhibit the scene including such moving objects in a perfect and natural manner by means of a suitable exhibit 15 ing apparatus, such as that described in an application filed simnltaneouslv herewith, (Patent No. 493,420, dated March 14, 1893.) I hav6 found that it is possible to accomplish this end by means of photography. 20 In carrying out my invention I employ an apparatus for effecting by photography a representation suitable for reproduction of a scene including a moving object or objects comprising a means, such as a single camera, *5 for intermittently projecting at such rapid rate as to result in persistence of vision images of successive positions of the object or objects in motion as observed from a fixed and single point of view, a sensitized tape 30 like film, and a means for so moving the film as to cause the successive images to be received thereon separately and in single-line sequence. The movements of the tape-film are intermittent, ard it is preferable that the 35 periods of rest of ihe film should be longer thau the periods of movement. By taking the photographs at a rate sufficiently high as to result in persistence of vision thedevelcped photographs will, when brought 40 successively into view by an exhibiting apparatus, reproduce the movements faithfully and naturally. I have been able to take with a single camera and a tape-film as many as forty-six pho 45 tographs per second, each having a si/.e measured lengthwise of the tape of one inch; and I have also been able to hold the tape at rest for nine-tenths of the time; but I do not wish to limit the scope of my invention to this 50 high rate of speed nor to this g;eal dispro portion between the periods of rest and the periods of motion, since with some subjects a speed as low as thirty nictures per second or even lower is sufficient, and while it is desirable to make the perioas of rest as much 55 longer than the periods of motion as possible any excess of the periods of rest over the periods of motion is advanfageous. In the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, Figure 1 is a plan view, with the 60 top of the casing removed, of a form of apparatus which I have found highly useful for the taking of the photographs. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitndiual section on line serin Fig. 1. Figs. 3 and 4 are enlarged views of 65 the stop mechanism of the photographing apparatus. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the shutter for the photographing apparatus, and Fig. 0 is a perspective view of a section of the tapefilm with the positive photographs thereon. 70 Referring to the drawings, 3 indicates the transparent or translucent tape-film, which before the apparatus is put in operation is all coiled on a reel in the sheet metal box or case 1, the free end being counected to 75 an empty reel in the case 2. The film 3 is preferably of sufficient width to admit the taking of pictures one inch in diameter between the rows of holes 4, Fig. 2, arranged at regular inter%-als along the two edges of the 80 film, and into which holes the teeth of the wheels 5, Figs. 1 and 2, e. terfor the purpose of positively advancing tue film. When the film is narrow, it is not essential to use two rows of perforations and two feed-wheels, one 85 feed-wheel being sufficient. Said wheels are mounted on a shaft 6, which carries a loose pulley 7 — that is, a pullo}7 fractionally connected to its shaft and forming a yielding mechanical connection. This pulley is driven 90 by a cord or belt 8 from a pulley 9 on the shaft 10, which shaft is driven by means of the beveled gears 11 12. The wheel 12 is preferably driven by an electric motor. 13, which when the apparatus is in nse is regu 95 la ted to ran at the desired uniform speed, being controlled by the centrifugal governor 14 and the. circuit -controller 15 in a wellknown manner. On the shaft 10 is another pulley 1G, which is connected by a cross-belt io<