"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU" NOW IN PUBLIC DOMAIN

A federal judge in Los Angeles has ruled that the longstanding copyright on “Happy Birthday to You” was invalid. For decades, the rights to the century-old song have changed hands until Warner/Chappell publishing bought them in 1988 and began to aggressively protect their copyright by charging royalties for the use of “Happy Birthday to You” in movies and TV shows, charging anywhere from $1,000 to “six figures” for the song’s usage. However, the judge determined that the copyright claim that Warner/Chappell held was not valid, as the original 1935 copyright of “Happy Birthday to You” applied only to a specific piano arrangement. Furthermore, said the judge, “Good Morning To All,” the 1893 song that lends its melody to “Happy Birthday to You,” has long been in public domain. As a result of the judge’s ruling, anyone who paid Warner/Chappell for usage of “Happy Birthday to You” could potentially sue the publishers, since they didn’t have the proper copyright claim to ask for royalties to begin with.
* Personally I think they ripped the whole thing off from Marvin Gaye.
* You know who’s nervous now? The people who own “For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow.”
* “Good Morning To All”? How on earth did THAT version never catch on?
* Whoever wrote that was REALLY out of ideas.
* Their other big songs were “Hot Enough For You?” and “See You Later.”
* Careful, though. The judge did say you can still be charged for trying to sing harmonies on the Birthday song.
* There’s always one of those at every birthday party, isn’t there?
* Remember that rap group Public Domain? They never really took off, did they?
* They had that one hit, “Fight the Copyright.” Not a great song.