Wednesday, September 23, 2015

ITP V.015 TECH SAVY: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" (SONG): NONE OF THE PUBLISHING COMPANIES THAT COLLECTED ROYALTIES ON SONG OWNED THE COPYRIGHT








After 80 years, in a stunning reversal of various and lengthy lawsuits, the legendary song "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" (copy right SUMMY CO./BIRCH HILL GROUP filed in 1935) is finally free of royalties extortion via WARNER/CHAPPELL (the publishing arm of WARNER BROTHERS MUSIC) from a 1988 copy right enforcement.







RUPYA MARYA of music group RUPYA and the APRIL FISHES and independent film maker JENNIFER NELSON are two Plaintiffs in the case.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY" was modified from it's original version "GOOD MORNING TO ALL". In 1893, Kentucky (U.S.A.) school teacher PATTI SMITH HILL  (for her students), unleashed the song in a book "Song Stories for Kindergarten", writing the basic melody for the tune, and the lyrics for "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" with her sister MILDRED.

As "GOOD MORNING TO ALL" entered the public domain years ago, WARNER BROTHERS argued the 1935 claim of "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" and if the HILL sisters had abandoned the copy right.
The judge ruled the HILL sisters owned the copy right to "HAPPY BIRTHDAY's" lyrics.
The judge ruled that SUMMY CO. had never legally obtained the copy right to "HAPPY BIRTHDAY".
As MILDRED HILL has been dead for over a century, the judge did NOT explicitly rule "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" as public domain, as the real copy right holders are hard to find and have not been compensated for.

The Birthday tune can not be performed, sung or used without permission from WARNER BROTHERS for licensing and royalty payments.

As SUMMY CO. do not own the copy rights to "HAPPY BIRTHDAY's lyrics, the lawsuit (class action) seeks monetary damages and restitution of more than 5 million in licensing fees collected (2013) via WARNER MUSIC GROUP..

The famous and popular tune "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" generates over 2 million in licensing royalties for WARNER/ CHAPPELL annually.    

Has "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" been ruled out of copy right?







FROM CREATIVE COMMONS:
Thank god, now we can get back to more important matters like monkey selfies.

FROM EFF: 

Eight decades later, the bogus copyright claim to "Happy Birthday" has been busted.
 https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/09/happy-birthday-everybody-victory-public-domain-asterisk


FROM MUSICIANS INSTITUTE:  

A judge ruled on Tuesday that the long-claimed copyright on “Happy Birthday to You,” the most popular tune in the English language, is not valid.

FROM THE L.A. TIMES:

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-happy-birthday-song-lawsuit-decision-20150922-story.html
FROM AP:
 http://bigstory.ap.org/article/4ef3d7182b7e44eb81ccd1b75593ae82/federal-judge-rules-happy-birthday-song-public-domain
FROM BOING, BOING:
 https://boingboing.net/2015/09/22/happy-birthday-is-in-the-publi.html
FROM NBC NEWS:
http://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/music/music-company-does-not-own-happy-birthday-song-copyright-judge-n432001

FROM ARSTECHNICA:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/09/judge-warners-2m-happy-birthday-copyright-is-bogus/

FROM NY TIMES:
 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/23/business/media/happy-birthday-copyright-invalidated-by-judge.html?_r=1
Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-