The judge directed the plaintiffs and defendants to brief him on the issue of abandonment, which means the plaintiffs’ lawyers will have to go back through the evidence in the record and figure out how the author, Patty Smith Hill, made a move to ditch any authority on the lyrics more than a century ago, according to an article by Eriq Gardner in The Hollywood Reporter. Judge King stated earlier in May that he wants to hear more about whether the 19th century schoolteacher who has been credited with writing “Happy Birthday to You,” the English language’s most popular song, had abandoned the copyright to the lyrics. District Judge George King makes a ruling pertaining to a lawsuit filed earlier this year by Good Morning Productions against Warner/Chappell, owner of the popular song. Or is it really copyrighted? That question could be answered soon when U.S. This does not apply to singing the song in a family setting, or “non-public” scenario, but it does impact public performances of the song as well as the rights to reproduce the composition. People are often shocked to find out that it is, in fact, a copyrighted composition that requires licensing and royalty payments in order to use it. Public birthday celebrations can be painfully embarrassing, especially when a restaurant crew suddenly breaks out in their own original, quirky version of birthday tune while presenting a free dessert at your table? Why don’t they just sing the traditional, well-worn “Happy Birthday to You?” It’s often attributed to their desire to avoid paying royalties to sing the traditional song.Ĭontroversy has surrounded the song, “Happy Birthday to You,” for many years and with good reason. Is “Happy Birthday to You” Song Really Copyrighted or in Public Domain?
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