Omaha daily bee., 1912-08-17
SEVERAL CORPORATIONS NAMED
Motion Picture Patents and General
Film Companies Defendants.
CONTROL MANY THEATERs
Arbitrary Restraints Enable Them
to Close Any House They Wish.
NEW POINT RAISED IN CASE
Court SQuare1y Asked to Define the
Relation OF Sherman Anti
Trust Act to Patent
" Laws.

PHILADELPHIA. Aug. 16-The federal
government attacked the so-called NOV,
ing picture trust in a civil suit filed
here today for the dissolution of the
Motion Picture Patents company anc
the General Film company. : Ter
prominent film concerns are accused OF
combining to monopolize the business
even to the extent Of increasing or de,
creasing the number of motion picture
theaters, in which they have no proprie
tary interest
The following corporations and irdi
viduals, who are officers or Director are
named defendants:
Motion Picture Patents company; Gen
eral Film company, Biograph company
Thomas A. Edison dnc), Essannay Film
Manufacturing company, the Kalem COM
pany dnc); George Kleine; Lubin Manu-.
featuring company, Melies Manufactur-
ing company; Pathe Freces, Ithe Zelig
Polyscope company, the Vitagraph COM
pany of America; Armat Moving Picture
company, Frank L. Dyer, Henry N. Mar
win, ]. ]. Kennedy, William Pelzer
Samuel Long, ]. A. Berst, Siegmund
Lubin, CASTOR Melies, Albert Esmuh,
George K. spoor and w. N. Zelig.
Charges in Complaint.
Each of the defendants is alleged to
have overstepped the bounds of the law
full monopoly granted By their patents
and the petition asks that several compl
Gated interlocking license restrictions,
tying patents together, be ordered can
celied.
The government charges that unreaSon-
able and oppressive restraints and con
ditions have been arbitrarily imposed on
. the manufacture and leasing Of films and
machines, depriving the public of the ad-
vantages of competition, especially the
competition of foreign films, the importa-
ton of whiclt.is Is alleged TO he restricted
4 Edwin r. Grpsvsaor special assistant TO
tina attorney general, who has charge OF
the pending antitrust suit against the
Information Harvester company. made
an exhaustive investigation Of the NOV
ing picture Business, craving the petition
filed today By Uniieaa States Attorney
John c. SWarley. In addition the bill
is signed by Attorney General Wicker
sham and James A. Fowler, his assistant
Business Grows Rapidly.
The government petition says between
2,6O0,000 and 100000 feet of pictures are
printed each week by manufacturers and
distributed to thousands of exhibitors all
over the United States. The government
declares that a sum greatly in excess Of
800 900 has been invested in the diff
ferent branches of the business. The de-
! PENDANTS control, it is added from 70 to
) so per cent of the film business, furnish.
ing approximately 1900 exhibitors.
The Motion Picture Patents company,
organized in New Jersey in September,
1908, is the holding company Of all the
motion picture patents of the defendants,
y Other than collecting and distributing
royalties among tAe defendants, the bill
says the patents ccIlpany's only business
is the bringing of lawsuits under the
patents it holds. Hundreds of suits have
, been brought, it is alleged, Ito harass
and Cypress all persons engaged in the
motion picture business who have not
obeyed its mandates"
The alleged unlawful combination of
the defendants became effective January
CONTINUED on Page .Two.)