Last week, a jury in Los Angeles found that British rock group Led Zeppelin did not steal the intro to the iconic track "Stairway to Heaven" from a long-defunct Los Angeles band. Today I found out the song Happy Birthday is copyrighted and brings in about 2,000,000 per year to the copyright holders (currently an investment group that purchased Warner Music who in turn was the most recent owner of the copyright for the song). The case is the latest high-profile dispute regarding song copyrights. Workers unite: Karl Marx’s 198th birthday observed Warner/Chappell Music, the global publishing arm of Warner Music, acquired the company that had previously claimed ownership of the song in 1988 and argued that the copyright to the lyrics would expire in 2030. Schoolchildren would sing the tune, which was initially titled "Good Morning to You." "People should wake up and realize that we can challenge corporations that are overstepping their place."īoth sides in the court case generally agreed that the song was put to paper in 1893 by Patty Hill, a kindergarten instructor in Kentucky, with her sister Milfred, although some say the melody came earlier. Princess Charlotte's photos released to celebrate first birthday "It's nice to know the song is officially liberated," she told reporters as she sang "Happy Birthday" outside the courthouse while playing the guitar. Rupa Marya, one of the plaintiffs in the case and leader of a California band that had been asked to pay $455 to use "Happy Birthday" in one of its albums, hailed Monday's settlement as a key moment for the music industry. King had ruled last year that the song does not belong to Warner/Chappell, which subsequently agreed to pay $14 million in a settlement that effectively put to rest its copyright claim along with its efforts to collect royalties. "Everyone who has a birthday can celebrate," he said. He represented plaintiffs in a class-action suit filed in 2013 after the producers of a low-budget documentary about the song's history balked at the $1,500 the publisher demanded for its use. Reception: Britain celebrates as the queen turns 90 "This is a huge victory for the public and for the artists who want to use 'Happy Birthday to you' in their videos and music,'" attorney Daniel Schacht said. The settlement approved by Los Angeles judge George King ended a long-running legal dispute challenging music publisher Warner/Chappell Music's claim that it owned the song's copyright.
One of the co-plaintiffs, Rupa Marya of the music group Rupa & The April Fishes, also praised the decision as momentous, saying: “I hope we can start reimagining copyright law to do what it’s supposed to do - protect the creations of people who make stuff so that we can continue to make more stuff.A US federal judge on Monday signed off on a settlement that puts the song "Happy Birthday", considered one of the most recognizable tunes in the English language, in the public domain.
IS THE HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONG COPYRIGHTED FREE
‘Happy Birthday’ is finally free after 80 years,” Randall Newman, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, told the Los Angeles Times. The basic “Happy Birthday” tune, derived from another popular children’s song, “Good Morning to All,” has long been in the public domain, and King’s decision, though it could be appealed, makes the entirety fair game for use. from the song’s writers and bought for $15 million in 1988 by Warner/Chappell Music Inc., only covered specific piano arrangements of the song and not its lyrics. King found Tuesday that the song’s original copyright, obtained by the Clayton F.
But the move could mean millions lost for the music publishing company that has been collecting on the copyright to one of the most widely sung songs in the world.
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