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 (1912-1913)

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:
1912-1913
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 7
Leaf #:
000286
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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268 Motion Picture Patents Co. and Eastman Kodak Co. amount such licensee may have overpaid, according to said schedule, and paying" the balance to the Patents Company; and that on each sale of the other film of a width approximately one inch and threeeighths of an inch (1% in.) in width to the amount of two and onehalf (2y2) per cent, of the total amount of "Licensed Film" supplied to the "Patents Company licensees" during any one year, counting from June 20, 1909, of the continuance of this agreement, as provided for in Paragraph 14, a royalty of one-half (y2) cent per running foot, and which royalty the Eastman Company is to pay to the Patents Company on such film sold by it which is paid for by the purchaser thereof; and on each sale of said other film which is not to exceed approximately one inch (1 in.) in width, as provided for in Paragraph 14, the Eastman Company shall include in the price charged for such film to the purchaser thereof a royalty amounting to such proportion of one-half (%) cent per running foot as the width of such film bears to the film approximately one and threeeighths of an inch (1% in.) in width, and which royalty the Eastman ( Company is to pay to the Patents Company on such film sold by it which is paid for hj the purchaser thereof; such adjustment and payments to the licensee and the Patents Company to be made by the Eastman Company within thirty (30) days after the expiration of each such year, counting from June 20, 1909, provided, however, that if, at the time such payment of royalties is due from the Eastman Company to the Patents Company, the Edison Company should be indebted to the Eastman Company for "Licensed Film" or other supplies purchased from or furnished by the Eastman Company to the Edison Company during such year, the royalties shall be applied by it on account of such indebtedness, the balance, if any, remaining over such indebtedness, to be paid by the Eastman Company to the Patents Company, and a statement at the same time shall be given by the Eastman Company to the Patents Company of the amount of such indebtedness incurred after June 20, 1909, to which said royalties have been applied by it. It is mutually covenanted and agreed by and between the Patents Company, the Edison Company and the Eastman Company, that all royalties heretofore paid to the Eastman Company by the licensees of the license agreements with the Edison Company referred to in Paragraph 3, between June 20, 190S, and the date hereof, under and in accordance with the aforesaid agreements