[zook]

"Taking someone's intellectual property without compensation is thievery. "

And that's why, to this day, no one can sing "Barbry Ellen" or "Greensleeves."

[Smogger]

And that's why, to this day, no one can sing "Barbry Ellen" or "Greensleeves."

Or "Happy Birthday To You!" That's right folks if you want to sing this little ditty in public you better get the rights from The Harry Fox Agency.

A little history lesson for all of you:

"The Chicago-based music publisher Clayton F. Summy Company, working with Jessica Hill, published and copyrighted "Happy Birthday" in 1935. Under the laws in effect at the time, the Hills' copyright would have expired after one 28-year term and a renewal of similar length, falling into public domain by 1991. However, the Copyright Act of 1976 extended the term of copyright protection to 75 years from date of publication, and the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 added another 20 years, so under current law the copyright protection of "Happy Birthday" will remain intact until at least 2030."

28 years was reasonable, but NOOO the morons in Congress gotta keep extending the copyrights in perpetuity. Ridiculous.