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 #:
000349
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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Motion Picture Patents Co. and Gaumont Co. of N. Y. 327 print the Licensee's trade-mark in each picture of at least one scene of each subject of positive "talking motion pictures'' manufactured by the Licensee and to mark conspicuously on the labels which shall be placed on boxes or packages containing positive "talking motion pictures" manufactured or imported by the Licensee with the following words and figures: LICENSED TALKING MOTION PICTUEE Manufactured and Leased by and Property of GAUMONT COMPANY New York, N. Y. (Patented in the U. S. August 31, 1897; reissued Jan. 12, 1904.) The enclosed talking motion picture is Leased only and upon the following terms and conditions: (1) That it shall at all times be used in connection with the sound record furnished with this picture, and only on synchronized motion picture and sound reproducing apparatus, the synchronizing devices of which have been made or imported by the Lessor, and the motion picture projecting machines of which are licensed by the Motion Picture Patents Company of New Jersey, under its patents covering such projecting machines. i 2 i That the lessee shall not have the right to sub-let such talking motion picture until such lessee has entered into an agreement in writing with the Motion Picture Patents Company containing terms and conditions to be prescribed therein by it. and only while such lessee complies with all such terms and conditions and while such agreement remains in full force and effect. (3) That the lessee or user thereof shall not make or permit others to make any reproduction, commonly known as a "dupe," of such talking motion picture or any other motion picture containing the inventions of the above reissued patent. (1) That the lessee or user thereof shall not remove the trade-mark or trade-name or title therefrom. (5) That the violation of any of the foregoing conditions. including the terms and conditions of the agreement referred to in 3, entitles the lessor to immediate possession of this