The Decline Of The Motion Picture Patents Industry

420 Words2 Pages
As we learned in class, the Motion Picture Patents Company was originally formed to resolve conflicts among the competing members of the motion picture industry. However, it ultimately lost its position as the dominating force controlling the industry only ten years later. As we read about in Scott Curtis’s essay, the reasons for the MPPC’s decline varies, but can be summarized by focusing on three major causes: the influence of litigation; competition from independent companies; and mistrust amongst the MPPC and its own members. It all began when Eastman Kodak started making changes to its contract with the MPPC, allowing Kodak to sell its raw film stock to unlicensed and independent companies. This caused more and more theatres to buy independent