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 #:
000427
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. WILLARD G. STEWARD AND ELLIS F. FROST, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNORS TO CHARLES M. CAMPBELL, OF SAME PLACE. KINETOSCOPE SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 588,916, dated August 24, 1897. Application filed June 1, 1896. Serial Ho. 593,912. (No model.) To all whom It mttf/ concern: Be it known that we, Willard G. Steward and Ellis F. Frost, citizens of the United States, residing at Washington, in the Dis5 trict of Columbia, havelnvented certain new and useful Improvements in-Kinetoscopes; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art io to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompan}-ing drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification. 15 Our invention relates to optics ; and it consists in the method of and apparatus for causing rays of light from a moving object, each to be held stationary through a given point. One means for accomplishing this object is ao fully described hereinafter and disclosed in the accompanying drawings, in which — Figure 1 is a perspective view, partially broken away, of one form of an instrument embodying our invention. Fig. 2 is a verti 2$ cal sectional view of the same, and Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are detail views. Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 indicates the box or casing, in which a wheel or roller 2 is mounted. Over this 30 wheel is caused to pass, a transparency 3 or other continuous strip of material provided with objects, pictures, or negativee 4. 5 indicates a reflector which is arranged in the box in such relative position to the wheel 35 or roller as that the rays of light from the strip maybe seen through the window or aperture 6 in the side of the box. These parts may be of such size and shape and arranged in such relation to each other as to secure the 40 desired result. When it is desired to show a long series of pictures, the box may be made of a sufficient capacity to receive the entire length of the strip, or the box may be provided with slots or apertures 7 and 7', through 45 which the strip may pass into and be stored in a separate compartment 8, (shown only in dotted lines,) or the strip may bo permitted to run loosely upon the outside of the box. The pictures or objects may bo secured to 30 or arranged upon the strip at intervals, so that as the wheel or roller is rotated by means of the crank 9 or any other suitable motor they will pass a given point at such times and* with such speed as to produce the desired effect. The strip may be made to move 55 uniformly with the periphery of the wheel in any desired manner, as by means of spurs or spikes 10, which may projectthrough holes 11 in the strip To prevent the strip from becoming dis 60 connected from the pins or spurs on the periphery of the wheel, a thin strip 12, of steel or other suitable material, maybe secured at one side of tlie box with its free end extended over a portion of the periphery of the wheel. 65 When the spurs 10 are used upon the wheel, it may be desirable to use strippers 13 to disengage the strip from the wheel by passing betweeu it and the periphery oi the wheel and forcing it from the pins should it adhere 7c thereto and have a tendency to be carried around with the wheel. In the drawings wo have shown the spurs arranged substantially centrally to the periphery of the wheel and the ends of the strippers lying within grooves 75 14, near the edges of the wheel. This will cause the strippers to lie substantially tangential to the periphery of the wheel and in a line with the movement of the strip and between the wheel and the slot 7 in the casing, %o where the strip passes otitof the box In passing the strip to the wheel it maybe found desirable to place it under tension, which can be done bypassing it under a suitable brake. This brake can be located in £5 the slot 7'— as, for instance, a cushion 15 on one or both sides of the strip — and an adjusting-wedge 16 inserted under one of the cushions to graduate the pressure of the brake. To cause the pictures of the series to appear 90 as at the same place, it is necessary that such movements be given to the reflector upon. its axis or otherwise as will hold the direction of each of* the rays of light stationary through a given point whatever may be the angle of 95 the incident rajrs from the object to the reflector. As the objects oc pictures must succeed each other with sufficient rapidity to continuously impress the eye, it is ovident that tho 100 reflector can only follow each picture a cer1 tain distance, when it must resume its initial