“The Hill sisters gave Summy Co the rights to the melody, and the rights to piano arrangements based on the melody, but never any rights to the lyrics”, he said.
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That effectively places the song in the public domain, right-free, for the first time in 80 years. “It’s unbelievable”. The ruling came amid a lawsuit challenging Warner/Chappell’s attempt to fine a group of filmmakers $1,500 for the song’s use. It reportedly paid $25m for the company.
What’s not as well known is that there is a strict copyright associated with it that has been owned by Warner Music Group since 1988.
As of today, anyone will be able to sing “Happy Birthday to You” in films, television shows, plays or essentially any public performance without paying Warner/Chappell a royalty. The melody to the song entered the public domain in 1949 at the latest. The original lyrics were built around the phrase “good morning to you”. In 2008 alone, the song yielded over $2 million in royalties.
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the plaintiffs should be granted summary judgement, THR’s Eriq Gardner reports. At least three authors besides the Hill sisters copyrighted the lyrics in the early 1900s, but a music company acquired by Warner/Chappel Music claimed they bought the rights from the teachers. “If [the Hill sisters] didn’t convey the rights to Summy Co., then is there someone else that might still own them?”
A third of the profits from licensing the song still go to a designated charity of the Hill family, the Association for Childhood Education worldwide , which promotes global education efforts for children and the professional growth of educators.
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“We look forward to moving forward with the rest of the case, in which we will ask the court to order Warner Chappell to return all the money it has wrongfully collected under a claim of copyright ownership”, he said. The company has not indicated that it will do so.
