The Third Circuit Court has confirmed (in a footnote on another case) that AOL Time Warner owns the rights to “Happy Birthday” (the song, not the phrase), and will until 2030 — assuming Congress doesn’t extend everyone’s copyright yet again, thus ringing in the bucks everytime it’s played in public.
Hence, one might note, the flurry of generally wretched HB tunes that different restaurants make up for their patrons. What hath copyright wrought?
(via Volokh)
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