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 #:
000536
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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3388 Alfred Weiss, Recross Examination. Q. Now answer me. Had you been making fifteen or twenty thousand dollars a year up to the time you sold to the General Film Company? A. Yes, sir. Q. Were you making it on the day that you delivered your property to the General Film Company? A. No, sir. Before the Patents Company was formed, I had an outlay of a thousand dollars a month selling my old films to South America, to Germany, to Europe, to Russia, Austria and Hungary, and the moment the Patents Company was formed, they took away ten thousand dollars profit from me by making me sign one agreement. In addition to that, I conducted three theatres, and you will find the Patents Company agreement where they say that no exchange man has any right to conduct theatres, but rent films only, and I was foolish enough at that time that I went to work and disposed of two good theatres that made me all kinds of money. Q. Didn't you have those three theatres when you sold to the General Film Company? A. Yes, sir. Q. Now I want to ask you, you signed the exchange license agreement, didn't you? A. Yes, sir. Q. You knew what was in it, didn't you? A. Yes, sir. Q. You did not need Mr. Wright to come and tell you what was in it, or anyone else? A. At the time I signed the exchange agreement with the Motion Picture Patents Company, I did not know that there was such a party as Mr. Wright in existence. Q. But even afterwards, you did not need Mr. Wright to tell you what was in it? A. Mr. Waters gave me the advice to sign it, and I done business with Mr. Waters. Q. Did you know what was in it when you signed it? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you remember that you were asked a number of questions and made a number of answers in the case of the Greater New York Film Rental Company against the Biograph Company and the General Film Company when you were giving your direct testimony? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you recall that Mr. Rogers asked you this question : "Q. After you agreed to take the offer they made, how much did they pay you cash down, I mean on the $31,000? A. I had to wait two months, maybe longer than two months. In the meantime I transferred this business on Mr. Kennedy's word over to the General Film Company, deposited all my money, and delivered it to the General Film Company, and