# Happy Birthday Song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 31, 2000, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-song/27606 "2000-07-31T21:09:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pace\_pace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a587f6/32.png) [@pace\_pace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pace_pace)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-song/27606/21 "2013-06-15T15:26:50Z")
news on the happy birthday song front in today’s [Salon.com](http://Salon.com) ---
**Author:** ![eastcheap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8491ac/32.png) [@eastcheap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eastcheap)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-song/27606/22 "2013-06-15T16:54:59Z")
> [@svd678](#): > > Churches have to be careful not to violate CR laws. In most cases it is illegal to zerox music in other than very limited situations. It’s even trickier than that. Hymnals, for example, often contain a mixture of public domain and copyrighted material, plus stuff for which the publishers claim copyright, but maybe shouldn’t (in the U.S.). Of course, there’s no indication of what’s what, beyond a long list of copyright dates, sometimes going well back into the nineteenth century. Even many old, old, old hymns (and anthems, and requiems, and doxologies, and whatnot) end up under copyright when publishers transpose them to new keys, which is a little questionable under U.S. law. For that matter, some publishers will slap a new copyright on a new engraving, or even a reissue of an old engraving (the former is really dodgy, and the latter might be downright illegal). ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-song/27606/23 "2013-06-15T19:48:09Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > It’s worth noting that since this column originally appeared, the copyright has been extended another 20 years, so Happy Birthday to You is currently not slated to enter the public domain until 2031. Who ordered that? It astonishes me that copyright seems to be extended at whim. It happens with movies too. The great classic films of the 1930s would have been public domain long ago had not the major media companies managed to finagle a 20 or 30 year extension. I don’t know whether governments decide this stuff or some ‘independent’ copyright body but whoe’er it be the word no doesn’t seem to be in their vocabulary when dealing with the media giants. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-song/27606/24 "2013-06-16T21:25:21Z")
Not sure why the original question from the first TSD book didn’t carry over to cyberspace but I did retrieve it and manually put it in the system and now it’s available. > **[How could “Happy Birthday To You” be copyrighted?](https://www.straightdope.com/21344204/how-could-happy-birthday-to-you-be-copyrighted)** “Happy Birthday” was recently in the news. [Happy Birthday to You: The Lawsuit](http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinunderhill/2013/06/15/happy-birthday-to-you-the-lawsuit/) ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-song/27606/25 "2013-06-16T21:25:06Z")
Not sure why the original question from the first TSD book didn’t carry over to cyberspace but I did retrieve it and manually put it in the system and now it’s available. > **[How could “Happy Birthday To You” be copyrighted?](https://www.straightdope.com/21344204/how-could-happy-birthday-to-you-be-copyrighted)** “Happy Birthday” was recently in the news. [Happy Birthday to You: The Lawsuit](http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinunderhill/2013/06/15/happy-birthday-to-you-the-lawsuit/) ---
**Author:** ![eastcheap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8491ac/32.png) [@eastcheap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eastcheap)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-song/27606/26 "2013-06-17T06:09:41Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Who ordered that? It astonishes me that copyright seems to be extended at whim. It happens with movies too. I believe credit is usually given to Mickey Mouse. Every time _Steamboat Willie_ is about to enter the public domain, a new extension gets passed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-song/27606.md?page=1)