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Pathé Frères, Selig, and
Vitagraph — approached him in 1907 to negotiate a licensing agreement, which Lubin was also invited to join. The one notable filmmaker excluded from the licensing agreement was Biograph, which Edison hoped to squeeze out of the market. No further applicants could become licensees. The purpose of the licensing agreement, according to an Edison lawyer, was to "preserve the business of present manufacturers and not to throw the field open to all competitors."
171:
158:, a key feature of virtually all motion picture cameras then in use. Edison sued to gain control of the patent. After a federal court upheld the validity of the patent in 1907, Edison began negotiation with Biograph in May 1908 to reorganize the Edison licensing system. The resulting trust pooled 16 motion picture patents. Ten were considered of minor importance. The remaining six pertained one each to films, cameras, and the
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The MPPC also established a monopoly on all aspects of filmmaking. Eastman Kodak owned the patent on raw film stock, and the company was a member of the trust and thus agreed to sell stock only to other members. Likewise, the trust's control of patents on motion picture cameras ensured that only MPPC
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relating to motion picture cameras. The Edison
Manufacturing Company's patent lawsuits against each of its domestic competitors crippled the US film industry, reducing production mainly to two companies: Edison and Biograph, which used a different camera design. This left Edison's other rivals with
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The patents owned by the MPPC allowed them to use federal law enforcement officials to enforce their licensing agreements and to prevent unauthorized use of their cameras, films, projectors, and other equipment. In some cases, the MPPC made use of hired thugs and mob connections to violently disrupt
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The MPPC eliminated the outright sale of films to distributors and exhibitors, replacing it with rentals, which allowed quality control over prints that had formerly been exhibited long past their prime. The trust also established a uniform rental rate for all licensed films, thereby removing price
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in an attempt to create a similar
European organisation. This group also included MPPC members Pathé and Vitagraph, which had extensive European production and distribution interests. This proposed European cartel ultimately failed when Pathé, then still the largest company in the world, withdrew in
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Patent royalties to the MPPC ended in
September 1913 with the expiration of the last of the patents filed in the mid-1890s at the dawn of commercial film production and exhibition. Thus the MPPC lost the ability to control the American film industry through patent licensing and had to rely instead
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in 1912–1913 from independent producers and foreign imports, the MPPC was very reluctant to make the changes necessary to distribute such longer films. Edison, Biograph, Essanay, and
Vitagraph did not release their first features until 1914, after dozens, if not hundreds, of feature films, had been
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Another reason was the MPPC's overestimation of the efficiency of controlling the motion picture industry through patent litigation and the exclusion of independents from licensing. The slow process of using detectives to investigate patent infringements, and of obtaining injunctions against the
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The MPPC also strictly regulated the production content of their films, primarily as a means of cost control. Films were initially limited to one reel in length (13–17 minutes), although competition by independent and foreign producers by 1912 led to the introduction of two-reelers, and by 1913,
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Since 1902, Edison had also been notifying distributors and exhibitors that if they did not use Edison machines and films exclusively, they would be subject to litigation for supporting filmmaking that infringed Edison's patents. Exhausted by the lawsuits, Edison's competitors — Essanay, Kalem,
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gave its landscapes the ability to offer motion picture shooting scenes set in deserts, jungles and great mountains. Hollywood had one additional advantage: if a non-licensed studio was sued, it was only a hundred miles to "run for the border" and get out of the US to Mexico, where the trust's
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The reasons for the MPPC's decline are manifold. The first blow came in 1911 when
Eastman Kodak modified its exclusive contract with the MPPC to allow Kodak, which led the industry in quality and price, to sell its raw film stock to unlicensed independents. The number of theaters exhibiting
113:. The MPPC ended the domination of foreign films on US screens, standardized the manner in which films were distributed and exhibited within the US, and improved the quality of US motion pictures by internal competition. It also discouraged its members' entry into feature
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Los
Angeles's distance from New York was also comforting to independent film producers, making it easier for them to avoid being harassed or sued by the Motion Picture Patents Company, AKA the Trust, which Thomas Edison helped create in
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on
October 1, 1915, which ruled that the MPPC's acts went "far beyond what was necessary to protect the use of patents or the monopoly which went with them" and was, therefore, an illegal restraint of trade under the
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studios were able to film, and the projector patents allowed the trust to make licensing agreements with distributors and theaters – and thus determine who screened their films and where.
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in 1914 cut off most of the
European market, which played a much more significant part of the revenue and profit for MPPC members than for the independents, which concentrated on
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Many independent filmmakers, who controlled from one-quarter to one-third of the domestic marketplace, responded to the creation of the MPPC by moving their operations to
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as a factor for the exhibitor in film selection, in favor of selection made on quality, which in turn encouraged the upgrading of production values.
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The MPPC was preceded by the Edison licensing system, in effect in 1907–1908, on which the MPPC was modeled. During the 1890s,
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Final Cut: Art, Money, and Ego in the Making of Heaven's Gate, the Film that Sank United
Artists
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Biograph retaliated for being frozen out of the trust agreement by purchasing the patent to the
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was also chosen because of its beautiful year-round weather and varied countryside; its
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infringers, was outpaced by the dynamic rise of new companies in diverse locations.
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independent films grew by 33 percent within twelve months, to half of all houses.
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Thomas, Jeanne (Spring 1971). "The Decay of the Motion Picture Patents Company".
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with the licensees of the Motion Picture Patents Company (December 19, 1908)
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patents were not in effect and thus equipment could not be seized.
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Before the Nickelodeon: Motion Picture Patents Company Agreements
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611:"The Motion Picture Patents Company vs. The Independent Outlaws"
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made it more difficult for the MPPC to enforce its patents. The
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of all the major US film companies and local foreign-branches (
241:, and covers the area, was averse to enforcing patent claims.
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Edidin, Peter (August 21, 2005). "La-La Land: The Origins".
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History of Edison Motion Pictures: Litigation and Licensees
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Projection speeds ranged from 16 to 20 frames per second.
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little recourse but to import French and British films.
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In February 1909, major European producers held the
519:American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures
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193:productions that were not licensed by the trust.
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604:Independence In Early And Silent American Cinema
341:Edison v. American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.
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300:The end came with a federal court decision in
796:Edison Gower-Bell Telephone Company of Europe
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225:, whose distance from Edison's home base of
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303:United States v. Motion Picture Patents Co.
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791:Edison and Swan Electric Light Company
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217:, Hollywood's first movie studio, 1912
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501:Johnson Co. v. Pac. Rolling Mills Co.
389:. New York: Newmarket Press. p.
907:General Electric Research Laboratory
532:"Orders Movie Trust to be Broken Up"
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297:produced for a primarily US market.
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363:U.S. v. Motion Picture Patents Co.
269:Despite the rise in popularity of
105:) and the biggest supplier of raw
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1148:Thomas Alva Edison silver dollar
1108:Thomas Edison in popular culture
902:Storage Battery Company Building
968:The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace
609:Armando Franco (May 11, 2004).
846:Motion Picture Patents Company
831:Edison Storage Battery Company
821:Edison Portland Cement Company
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498: (9th Cir. 1895). and
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422:For example, the four-reelers
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231:Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
43:Motion Picture Patents Company
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1:
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1037:The Execution of Mary Stuart
811:Edison Manufacturing Company
425:From the Manger to the Cross
233:, which is headquartered in
174:Several films in production
7:
1018:Tales from the Bully Pulpit
801:Edison Illuminating Company
488: (9th Cir. 1897).,
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162:, and three to projectors.
129:owned most of the major US
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10:
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856:Oriental Telephone Company
816:Edison Ore-Milling Company
508: (9th Cir. 1892)..
274:released by independents.
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1010:Edison's Conquest of Mars
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887:Memorial Tower and Museum
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371: (E.D. Pa. 1915).
348: (2d. Cir. 1907).
286:film distribution in US.
892:National Historical Park
684:Edison's Phonograph Doll
282:, formed in 1910, which
202:three and four-reelers.
150:The addition of Biograph
1143:Statue of Thomas Edison
750:Incandescent light bulb
278:on its subsidiary, the
253:climate and widespread
934:Theodore Miller Edison
851:Mine Safety Appliances
786:Thomas A. Edison, Inc.
674:List of Edison patents
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55:federal antitrust suit
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27:American films company
381:Bach, Steven (1999).
309:Sherman Antitrust Act
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1184:Monopoly (economics)
1118:Pearl Street Station
806:Edison Machine Works
714:Quadruplex telegraph
435:The Battle of Shiloh
280:General Film Company
206:Backlash and decline
49:, also known as the
1128:Thomas Edison House
1113:War of the currents
765:Thermionic emission
760:Nickel–iron battery
740:Edison–Lalande cell
735:Consolidated Edison
243:Southern California
143:Paris Film Congress
83:Lubin Manufacturing
1092:Edisonian approach
543:. October 2, 1915.
540:The New York Times
461:The New York Times
369:225 F. 800
346:151 F. 767
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1061:A Night of Terror
679:Carbon microphone
506:51 F. 762
496:67 F. 597
491:Germain v. Wilgus
486:80 F. 732
400:978-1-55-704374-0
321:History of cinema
16:(Redirected from
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882:Depot Museum
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755:Movie camera
728:Advancements
689:Edison screw
617:. Retrieved
566:(2): 34–40.
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18:Edison Trust
1029:Productions
877:Black Maria
770:Ticker tape
745:Fluoroscopy
699:Kinetoscope
665:Discoveries
291:World War I
284:monopolized
179: 1907
160:Latham loop
1163:Categories
994:Literature
897:State Park
872:Birthplace
709:Phonomotor
704:Phonograph
619:2010-09-02
327:References
255:irrigation
247:topography
239:California
227:New Jersey
107:film stock
1087:Edisonade
1069:Kidnapped
865:Monuments
719:Tasimeter
432:, 1913),
251:semi-arid
223:Hollywood
71:Vitagraph
1045:The Kiss
970:" (1998)
779:Ventures
517:Per the
315:See also
295:Westerns
166:Policies
121:Creation
67:Biograph
57:, was a
1101:Related
580:1225236
197:Content
146:April.
131:patents
75:Essanay
1072:(1917)
1064:(1911)
1056:(1910)
1048:(1896)
1040:(1895)
1021:(2004)
1013:(1898)
1005:(1886)
986:(2020)
978:(2017)
963:(1940)
955:(1940)
921:Family
578:
504:,
494:,
484:,
478:e.g.,
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367:,
344:,
63:Edison
1080:Terms
983:Tesla
944:Films
936:(son)
930:(son)
614:(PDF)
576:JSTOR
535:(PDF)
467:1909.
440:Lubin
430:Kalem
59:trust
395:ISBN
47:MPPC
41:The
568:doi
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564:10
562:.
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