Whose song is 'Happy Birthday'?

For many people, the birthday song "Happy Birthday" is a very familiar tune and is played almost every birthday party. Simple as that, but this song has brought millions of dollars to its copyright holders.

Whose song is Happy Birthday?

The song was originally written for preschool children, singing freely at the table. However, if you perform songs in public, you will have to lose money or get in trouble.

In the 1930s, musician Irving Berlin paid a lot of money to use the song "Happy Birthday to You" during a concert.

In the 1980s, the copyright of the song "Happy Birthday" was a controversial issue and a headache for the US Congress. Finally in 1988, song rights were acquired by Warner Music Group, and the proposed fee for this song caused a wave of protests. However, then the organization responsible for collecting copyright fees quickly said that it was just a misunderstanding. Singing this song for birthdays and entertainment is still free.

Some people argue that this song is not bound by any copyright. And now, new evidence in a two-year copyright lawsuit could end Warner's decades-old kingship on popular day songs.

Still, Warner's lawyers said they could prove the song's copyright belongs to its customers (Warner) until its expiration in 2030.

The case has just been raised in Los Angeles, USA, when New York's Good Morning to You Productions is working on the song, suing Warner Music Group's production branch. The question is whether the song's 1935 copyright is valid, whether the original author of the song allowed the song to become a public song from the 1920s.

For months, plaintiffs have argued that the original author of the song allowed the public to perform, sing this song and not grant anyone the copyright for the song.

After that, they received a document that they said "shooting" proves "Happy Birthday to You" has been given free to the entire public since many centuries. A music book published in 1922 published songs and lyrics of the song without any copyright issues.

If the plaintiff succeeds, Warner will probably have to pay millions of dollars of copyright fees they have collected since 1988.

The story of this song began in 1893 about a teacher and sister. Patty Smith Hill and Mildred J. Hill wrote that song for Patty's kindergarten students, titled "Good Morning to All" . The original tone is: "Good morning to you / Good morning to you / Good morning, dear children / Good morning to all".

The song has gradually become a famous birthday song, with the tunes created by Patty Smith Hill , becoming the most sung English song in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Today, the song is not only in American music books, but also a national culture, sung at hundreds of millions of birthday parties every year.

It is nonsensical to have happy birthday melodies that cannot be sung or taken away without permission, but for Warner Music Group, it is money, their business. The company decided to publish the rights to the song, after paying $ 15 million to buy Birch Tree Group, the successor of Clayton F. Summy Co., which owns the original copyright. The song license fee has brought about $ 2 million a year for Warner, according to some estimates.

Under the law, Warner can charge anyone who wants to sing or play "Happy Birthday to You" in a money-making event. The most common cases are performing songs with music producers, theaters, performances on TV, in movies, in ringtones or in greeting cards. But even those who want to openly sing this song in the form of commercial business, as the owners of restaurants when giving free birthday cakes to guests, have to pay the song copyright fee.

Plaintiffs argued that Patty Smith Hill allowed the public to use her song widely without any copyright. In addition, they resorted to a 1935 article, which stated that Hill "has long since given up on song ownership, and it has become a common property of the nation".

The plaintiff claims that although Warner owns the copyright of a certain music arrangement deal about the song, they do not own the song itself.

However, Warner prosecutors disagree. They argued in an 8-page court document that Jessica Hill, who inherited part of Mildred Hill's song copyright, redone the copyright for " Good Morning" in 1921, and "Happy Birthday" song. was licensed to Summy Company with the family's permission in 1935. After that, Summy copyrighted it in 1962, decades before Warner Music bought Summy's successor.

However, the plaintiffs' lawyers believed their strongest evidence was from a copy of the 1927 music book, which contained a piece of material released by Warner himself. The lower part of the song title is too fuzzy, so the lawyers went to the libraries to find the original. And they found out, the text meant that: "Clayton F. Summy Co appreciates this song".

"Warner said that Summy has never authorized or taken any action called copyright to the song," said Randall S. Newman, a New York lawyer, representing the prosecution.

In the music book "The Everyday Song Book" published in 1922, there is a song "Happy Birthday" that Warner says they own the copyright.

After Newman discovered the original book of 1927, he ordered it, and also bought another version published in 1922 on Amazon for about $ 3. Songs published before 1923 are often considered the common property of the public.

Warner took action against the prosecution based on new evidence, and Judge George H. Kinh gave a one-week term to the prosecution in response. According to the attorneys of the prosecution, the final ruling on copyright lawsuits may be available in the next few weeks.

If the prosecution succeeds, the case will lead to a second phase, determining how much of the fee Warner must return. Newman said his client was prepared to argue that Warner deliberately hid the music book.

The Los Angeles Times newspaper said Warner's representative declined to comment on the incident.