In 1904, the famous composer Victor Herbert sued the Universal talking machine company (better known as Zon-O-Phone) for illegal use of his name. The folks at Universal weren’t strangers to such shenanigans as this, but this suit was a little different from their past courtly bouts. There has been a previous article on this topic featured in this column, but in the last month there has been more uncovered through reading the actual court transcription. These 120 pages can give us a unique look into one of the most corrupt phonograph companies of the acoustic era. Everything from the way the technology worked to the morality of ragtime was discussed in this fascinating suit.
Unsurprisingly, the music director of Universal, Fred Hager, made a royal ass of himself at this hearing. He spoke relatively little, but most of the obvious blame was on him, as they all knew it was him who first thought it a good idea to use Herbert’s name on their labels. The claims by the Zon-O-phone management were that a few members of the original Victor Herbert band got especial permission from Herbert to use his name on their label.
Hager spoke with the utmost pomp in his wording, begging the spectators and jurors that his tuba player, Anton Schliebusch had gotten per
