- 4,464
- Azle, TX
- supermanfromazle
- SanjiHimura
After 100 years, the song, Happy Birthday to You, was finally sent to the Public Domain by a federal judge. Not by the fact that the copyright ran out on it, as Warners had control of the rights since 1935, nor was the fact that the alleged composers, Mildred and Patty Hill, have long since passed away, not even when it was proven that there was prior art in the form of a songbook from 1922, but rather it was a failed copyright on that songbook that eventually freed it from Warners' control.
To explain, the songbook in question was copyrighted in 1922, which would, at the time anyways, placed its entry in the public domain in 1949 when the copyright to the songbook had expired, a period of 27 years. What the plaintiffs in a lawsuit, Good Morning to You productions, against Warners/Chappell argued that not only did the song fall into public domain in 1949, but the entire songbook in question did as well.
They also had a secondary argument as well. Even if you applied today's copyright law (life+70 years) on the song as published in 1922, the copyrights would have ran out in the 90's anyways, thus making Warners claim on the song moot.
http://www.avclub.com/article/happy-birthday-now-public-domain-225733
To explain, the songbook in question was copyrighted in 1922, which would, at the time anyways, placed its entry in the public domain in 1949 when the copyright to the songbook had expired, a period of 27 years. What the plaintiffs in a lawsuit, Good Morning to You productions, against Warners/Chappell argued that not only did the song fall into public domain in 1949, but the entire songbook in question did as well.
They also had a secondary argument as well. Even if you applied today's copyright law (life+70 years) on the song as published in 1922, the copyrights would have ran out in the 90's anyways, thus making Warners claim on the song moot.
http://www.avclub.com/article/happy-birthday-now-public-domain-225733
