Happy Birthday song is now public domain!

[Happy Birthday is now public domain!

](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/4ef3d7182b7e44eb81ccd1b75593ae82/federal-judge-rules-happy-birthday-song-public-domain)
Everybody SING! :smiley:

Wow:

I wonder when they’re going to return all the royalties they have collected since 1935.

Do you hear 80 years of lawsuits marching down courthouse hallways?

It’s a great day for anyone with a birthday.

It’s a great day for makers of movies, TV shows, and more recent media, who no longer have to worry about paying royalties on a song that should’ve long ago been in the public domain.
I foresee a lot of birthday celebrations on TV this year.

Will the judge’s ruling affect the copyright status outside the US? If not and you want to show your TV show or movie outside the US, you might need to proceed with caution.

Nope, his ruling affects every country, re: Berne Convention.

Something I’ve been wondering about this whole thing:

The media have been referring to “Happy Birthday to You” as “the most popular song in the English Language,” and mentioning its world-wide popularity. But if the song has been suppressed in film and television so much because of the copyright claims, I’m curious how it gathered so much popularity outside the U.S.? Just by world of mouth? I’ve had it sung to me in other countries–somewhat altered–and wonder how it has gotten around so much.

This legal scholar disagrees that the judge’s ruling places the song in the public domain. It does something close to that, but not the same thing.

http://www.loweringthebar.net/2015/09/have-you-ever-paid-royalties-for-singing-happy-birthday-to-you.html

I know I’m not competent to assess his interpretation. But overall I like his blog and his reasoning a lot. And have for several years.

Note that in US copyright law, there is a 3 year limit on recovering damages going the other way: suing an infringer. Not sure what the limit is for this direction, but it won’t be decades, that’s for sure.

Aye, that’s a good write up and yeah, Mr. Underhill’s blog is generally excellent.

There was a version of “Happy Birthday to You” (with the music and lyrics) found that had been published in 1922. Everything published in the United States prior to 1923 is automatically public domain, period, no argument possible.

It was nice that the judge explained all the other reasons why the copyright was invalid also, but that fact alone, suppressed by Warner/Chappell Music until it was discovered by the other side very late in the lawsuit, makes the case a slam dunk. The legal scholar in the link a couple of posts ago missed that too.

Great news! :smiley: