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"Happy Birthday" Hits Sour Notes When It Comes To Song's Free Use
vivaoporto writes: NPR reports that "Happy Birthday to You", one of the most recognized songs in the English language, is the subject of a class action complaint over the validity of its copyright. The publisher Warner/Chappell Music owns the copyright to the "Happy Birthday" song and anyone who wants to use the song must pay a licensing fee. How did Warner/Chappell get the rights? "This is where it gets complicated," says Jennifer Nelson. She is working on a documentary about the song and paid for the rights to use it. Now she's suing Warner/Chappell to get her money back, arguing it's part of the public domain. "I think it's going to set a precedent for this song and other songs that may be claimed to be under copyright, which aren't," says Newman. The Courthouse News Service have more information about the pending suit.
Warner wouldn't steal a car, would they?
The melody is surely public domain based on Good Morning to All and putting new lyrics on it doesn't change that. That's why the rights reverted to the authors of Good Morning to All. You can't have it both ways. Haha, just kidding, a corporation wants it both ways, so the government will be happy to bend over for them. Still, if you want alternatives: http://mycloudplayers.com/?id=... http://users.aei.ca/robr/Birth... http://users.aei.ca/robr/Birth... http://users.aei.ca/robr/Happy...
This is the best restaurant I ever eat in
I predict that "Happy Birthday" will still be under copyright at the time.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
There's already an alternate birthday song sun in every restaurant I've ever been to that had sang to people on their birthdays:
Happy happy birthday
From all of us to you!
We wish it was our birthday
So we could party too!
I always like to sing along under by breath a little parody I made up on the very topic of this article:
Happy happy birthday
From all of us to you!
We'd sing you "Happy Birthday"
But then we would get sued!
-Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
"I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
FTFA:
If "sometime in '20s" was 1929, then this copyright calculator says Jan. 1, 2025.
See, it's attitudes like this that hurt artists...
I mean, if we don't keep extending copyright, how can we encourage Elvis to keep singing new music?
P2P Killed Elvis!!!!
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
why is this chick considered to be attractive?
if anything she's just a plain jane.
We'll see how good YOU look after you've been dead 50 years...
#DeleteChrome
>How did Warner/Chappell get the rights?
They called dibs. C'mon, even children know how imaginary property works.
Make the copyright only go to the person in 13 year periods, renewable for their life, and with one extension if they have a spouse or children that survive them.
Only allow corporations to rent part of a 13 year period. Forcing them to renegotiate with the living human for each cycle.
Make it so!
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Long ago on usenet, someone who seemed to be against the long term copyright extensions was asking people to send in video of politicians singing happy birthday in public. I don't remember the specifics and I suspected it might have been a lobist or someone working for the rights holder.
I still think it would be cool for someone like the EFF to start collecting this so the next time Disney wants another 20 years, they can come out and list a whole bunch of pirates that are in congress.
"To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries."
Key words spelled out right in the constitution at least here in the US are "Authors and Inventors" and "limited Times", both of which appear to be FAR beyond the veil here. The artists have been dead since 1946 and no one with their head screwed on straight wound consider over a hundred and twenty years to be a "limited time" especially when you take into account that at the time the constitution was written you considered yourself lucky if you lived into your 40s.
This article isn't very accurate. The real story make the copyright claims even more absurd. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.... The melody and general idea of the lyrics date back at least to the mid-1800s. The song "Good Morning to All" was published in a song book in 1893, but the authors of that book had been singing it with their kindergarten class for many years, and it's not clear they were the original authors of it. The same melody with the words "Happy Birthday to You" was, it appears, an innovation of children who had been in their class, who started singing it at birthday parties. The tradition spread, and it appeared in print at least as early as 1912.
So what do they actually have a copyright on? Well, a piano arrangement was published in 1935. And years later someone came across that piano arrangement, found that a copyright had been registered on it, and (presumably being ignorant of the actual history of the song), thought they owned a copyright on the song and started trying to enforce it.
"I'm too busy to research this and form an educated opinion, but I do have time to tell everyone my uninformed opinion."
Not even the formatting, but the photo they took of it. Which is a separate work. If you want to sell Constitution prints, take your own photo.
Lawrence Lessig did. He lost, as usual. That was Eldred v. Ashcroft, 537 U.S. 186 (2003)
The copyright should be unenforceable against a TV show or restaurant that uses the song during a birthday celebration. The doctrine is called "Scène à faire", that which must be done. In the United States, this song is almost always sung at a birthday and if it wasn't sung, you'd have to explain why. This is a case where copyright cannot apply because the song has to be sung. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sc%C3%A8nes_%C3%A0_faire
And he would be right. By historical standards, everyone in America is obscenely wealthy.
It's not like classical music doesn't have its own skeletons in its closets: Lick my ass, by Mozart nonetheless.
Non-Linux Penguins ?
You're making the classic graphing error of assuming the data set will continue. The reality is hockey sticks and other curves tend to level off at some point. Back in the 1970's they were worried about the Population Bomb. What they didn't account for was that as the level of education went up people had fewer children so the Population Bomb fizzled and the curve leveled off. Same thing with Elvis. He finally realized the error of his ways, got away from all those people who were a bad influence, moved to Vermont, lost hundreds of pounds and is doing great. :)