Even though it earned its investors roughly twice as much as the previous record-holder, "The Birth of a Nation", the box-office performances of the two films were likely much closer. The bulk of the earnings from "Gone with the Wind" came from its roadshow and first-run engagements, where the distributor received 70 percent and 50 percent of the box-office gross respectively, rather than its general release, which at the time typically saw the distributor's share set at 30–35 percent of the gross. In the case of "The Birth of a Nation", its distributor, Epoch, sold off many of its distribution territories on a "states rights" basis—which typically amounted to 10 percent of the box-office gross—and Epoch's accounts are only indicative of its own profits from the film, and not the local distributors. Carl E. Milliken, secretary of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association, estimated that "The Birth of a Nation" had been seen by fifty million people by 1930.