It was from the 1930s. And Esper tried to litigate when some people were screening his film for midnight screenings without paying him. He also got crapped on by MGM who now claim that they merely "leased" him Freaks (they threw the negative in the ocean, and now release HIS edited version with HIS "warning" screen roll tacked on to theatrical and home video releases).
Although I’ve never bothered with it, I did know that it was popular among dopers.