Phonograph "gramophones" or "talking-machines". His "gramophone record" was the first disc record to be offered to the public. They were five inches (12.7 cm) in diameter and recorded on one side only. Seven-inch (17.5 cm) records followed in 1895. Also in 1895 Berliner replaced the hard rubber used to make the discs with a shellac compound. Berliner's early records had poor sound quality, however. Work by Eldridge R. Johnson improved the sound fidelity to a point where it was as good as the cylinder. By 1901, ten-inch (25 cm) records were marketed by Johnson and Berliner's Victor Talking Machine Company, and
Berliner Gramophone injunction against Berliner and United States Gramophone Company. Though he would attempt in several proceedings afterward to have the injunction overturned, it was allowed to stand and it compelled Emile Berliner's exit from the gramophone business in America. Berliner transferred his patents to Eldridge Johnson, who then changed the name over the door to his own, though Berliner retained a share in the new company. In March 1901, Johnson registered the name Victor Talking Machine Company and launched the brand later in the year. By 1905 it had regained the lead in the American disc record business, while by 1906