Is Happy Birthday Copyrighted
None of the early appearances of the happy birthday to you lyrics included credits or copyright notices. The summy company registered a copyright in 1935, crediting authors preston ware orem and mrs. Learn how warner chappell music lost the rights to the song happy birthday to you in a class action lawsuit and how it affected the public domain. Find out the history, the value and the impact of the song on music and film. While the lyrics are free to use, specific arrangements and recordings of happy birthday remain copyrighted and require proper licensing.
A federal judge ruled that warner/chappell music does not own the copyright to the lyrics of happy birthday to you in 2015. The song was published without a copyright mark in 1922 and the original copyright only covered the piano arrangement. This article explores the origins of the happy birthday song, the landmark legal cases that impacted its copyright status, and the lasting implications for its use today. In 2016, a u. s. Federal court ruled that happy birthday to you was in the public domain, ending decades of royalty collections and freeing the song for unrestricted public use. The courts decision was a significant win for culture and open access to music.
