"Happy birthday to you" is a public domain, past copyright will be refunded

ByJanine

Song celebrating birthday "Happy Birthday to YouAbout September 2015Copyright attribution to Warner · Chapel · Music is not allowedAlthough it got a ruling saying that, Warner is likely to return the "copyright fee" received in the past.

"Happy Birthday" is public domain, former owner Warner / Chapell to pay $ 14 M | Ars Technica
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/02/happy-birthday-is-public-domain-former-owner-warnerchapell-to-pay-14m/


In a trial where filmmaker Jennifer Nelson complained about Warner · Chapel · Music claiming copyright without responding to the collection of copyright fees, Judge George King 2015, "Happy Birthday to You" In September, I dismissed Warner's argument. At this time, King Judge questioned whether Patty Hill, who is considered to be the author in the first place, even wrote the nineteenth-century nursery rhyme "Good Morning to You" that was the source of this song It was.

Mr. Nelson, Warner, both lawyers agreed in December 2015 about the ruling. The contents were revealed after two months, and Warner found that Warner is planning to return 14 million dollars (about 1.6 billion yen) of the copyright obtained so far.

Warner has collected the copyright of "Happy Birthday to You" in 1935, collected fees every time a song is used on a movie or TV program. That amount is $ 2 million per year (about 230 million yen). In a famous place, the 1994 documentary film "Hoop · Dreams"I will pay $ 5,000 (about 570,000 yen) because the scene that sings this song by family comes out in an important place.


According to the agreement, all copyright fee paid after 2009 will be refunded and 15% will be refunded before that.

Mr. Nelson's Randall Newman attorney said that the important thing in this agreement is that it is a big victory for the artists and that it is a major event in history because "Happy Birthday to You" became the public domain .

In Ars Technica I heard that Newman's lawyer says "There is another song that is going to be" released "in the same way", but he says that song was not taught.