and
Posted on 06/13/2013 1:53:51 PM PDT by Olog-hai
A production company making a documentary about the song “Happy Birthday to You” has filed a lawsuit in New York over the copyright to it.
Good Morning To You Productions Corp. says in Thursday’s federal court filing Warner/Chappell Music Inc. has been collecting “Happy Birthday to You” licensing fees for years. …
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
Has Bob Dylan recorded this classic?
“...federal court filing Warner/Chappell Music Inc. has been collecting “Happy Birthday to You” licensing fees for years.”
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Who have they been collecting them from? I thought Happy Birthday was public domain, and had been for years.
I dunno, but SCTV had a skit about a record commercial for “Gordon Lightfoot Sings Every Song Ever Recorded” where Gord sings it. Or a close facsimile of Gord.
Lightfoot sings the national anthem was pretty good
“Happy Birthday to You”, also known more simply as “Happy Birthday”, is a song that is traditionally sung to celebrate the anniversary of a person’s birth. According to the 1998 Guinness Book of World Records, “Happy Birthday to You” is the most recognized song in the English language, followed by “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow”. The song’s base lyrics have been translated into at least 18 languages.[1], p. 17 The melody of “Happy Birthday to You” comes from the song “Good Morning to All”, which was written and composed by American siblings Patty Hill and Mildred J. Hill in 1893.[2][3] Patty was a kindergarten principal in Louisville, Kentucky, developing various teaching methods at what is now the Little Loomhouse;[4] Mildred was a pianist and composer.[1], p. 7 The sisters created “Good Morning to All” as a song that would be easy to be sung by young children.[1], p. 14
The combination of melody and lyrics in “Happy Birthday to You” first appeared in print in 1912, and probably existed even earlier.[1], pp. 31–32 None of these early appearances included credits or copyright notices. The Summy Company registered for copyright in 1935, crediting authors Preston Ware Orem and Mrs. R.R. Forman.[citation needed] In 1990, Warner/Chappell purchased the company owning the copyright for $15 million, with the value of “Happy Birthday” estimated at $5 million.[5] Based on the 1935 copyright registration, Warner claims that the United States copyright will not expire until 2030, and that unauthorized public performances of the song are technically illegal unless royalties are paid to it. In one specific instance in February 2010, these royalties were said to amount to $700.[6] In the European Union, the copyright of the song will expire on December 31, 2016.[7] The actual American copyright status of “Happy Birthday to You” began to draw more attention with the passage of the Copyright Term Extension Act in 1998. When the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Act in Eldred v. Ashcroft in 2003, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer specifically mentioned “Happy Birthday to You” in his dissenting opinion.[8] American law professor Robert Brauneis, who extensively researched the song, has expressed strong doubts that it is still under copyright.[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Birthday_to_You
How about
Happy Birthday To You
You Live in a Zoo
You look like a monkey
And you smell like one, too
Thank you Joe (Mr. Wikipedia) ProBono.
If it dates to 1912 then Warner Brothers' claim of copyright is baseless. Boycott Time-Lies-Warner-Turner.
Well, it is my birthday today. :)
Johnny Carson always looked chagrined when the audience broke out in song — Happy Birthday.
He would say ‘there goes another royalty payment.’
and
No copyright protection duration should exceed Patents in years of protection.
The vile drug infested entertainment media crowd somehow think they are entitled to greater protection than someone who invents a new widget, process...
They just happened to find fellow comrades in the federal government.
SCTV - one of the greatest sketch comedy shows to hit tv.
Thank you.
They look like a monkey
And probably fling their poo!
hey, it rhymed....
Ahh, thank you.
Glad to see you have sense of humor. :)
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