Birthday Song’s Copyright Leads to a Lawsuit for the Ages – NYTimes.com
A filmmaker is seeking to have a court declare the popular ditty to be in the public domain and to block a music company from charging licensing fees for its use.
Putting "Happy Birthday to You" into the public domain
Most people don't know it isn't, but "Happy Birthday to You" it's currently owned and licensed out by a branch of Warner Bros., which earns a few million dollars a year from groups, film makers, etc., who want to do public performances of it. (That's one reason why restaurant chains tend to make up their own birthday tunes.)
67 view(s)
According to the lawsuit, the song is in the Public Domain, and Warner has been defrauding the public.
About damn time!