Copyright Lawsuit – “Happy Birthday” Song Copyright Claim Over
A copyright lawsuit involving the world-famous “Happy Birthday” song has ended following a ruling this week. The dispute about the famous song has been finally resolved a BBC Article reports. Watner/Chappell Music will no longer be collecting royalties for the song Happy Birthday following US District Judge George H. King’s ruling.
Copyright Validity
The song’s original copyright was acquired by music giant Warner/Chappell who have made around $2 million a year from royalty payments whenever the song is used in a film, television episode, advertisement or other public performance.
The tune was composed by two sisters Parry and Mildred Hill in 1893 under the name Good Morning all and was acquired by Warner/Chappell in 1935 and, without the court judgement, it would not have been freely available in the public domain in the US until 2030 and in the EU until 31 December 2016.
Copyright Lawsuit And The Ruling
The case was filed by Rupa Marya and Robert Siegel in 2013 because they are making a film about the song and did not want to pay royalties. They argued the song is in the public domain and should not be subject to copyright fees.
The judge ruled that the original copyright granted to the defendants was only for specific arrangements and is not exclusive. Therefore, they do not own a valid copyright in the song. The ruling can be read online here. However, this still does not mean that the song is freely available in the public domain to use because, as Chloe Smith reports for the Law Gazette, there still may be elements of the song that are copyright protected.
Read the full BBC article.
