On the other hand, Summy-Birchard, a subsidiary of Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., the publishing arm of Warner Music Group, claims to be the sole owner of copyright to the song "Happy Birthday to You" and collects an estimated $2 million per year in licensing fees (a portion of which are paid to Association for Childhood Education International) on that basis, and they will continue to do so through at least the year 2030.
Does this mean that everyone who warbles "Happy Birthday to You" to
family members at birthday parties is engaging in copyright infringement
if they fail to obtain permission from or pay royalties to the song's
publisher? No. Royalties are due, of course, for commercial uses of
the song, such as playing or singing it for profit, using it in movies,
television programs, and stage shows, or incorporating it into musical
products such as watches and greeting cards; as well, royalties are due
for public performance, defined by copyright law as performances which
occur "at a place open to the public, or at any place where a
substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and
its social acquaintances is gathered." So, crooning "Happy Birthday to
You" to family members and friends at home is fine, but performing a
copyrighted work in a public setting such as a restaurant or a sports
arena technically requires a license from ASCAP or the Harry Fox Agency
(although such infringements are rarely prosecuted).
In recent years, some legal scholars have pointed out a number of potential problems with Warner/Chappell's claims to copyright ownership of "Happy Birthday to You," namely that there is little or no evidence that Patty Smith Hill actually wrote the lyrics to the song, that the first authorized publication of "Happy Birthday to You" bore an improper copyright notice (resulting in forfeiture of copyright protection), and that the copyright renewals filed in 1963 by Summy-Birchard covered only particular arrangements of the song and not the song itself.
In June 2013, a film company working on a documentary about "Happy Birthday to You" filed a class action lawsuit which seeks to invalidate Warner/Chappell's claim to copyright ownership of the song and force the company to return millions of dollars they have collected over the years for wrongfully asserting copyright owership. But that case has not been fully adjudicated, and unless and until a court invalidates Warner/Chappell's assertion of copyright ownership, the song "Happy Birthday to You" remains in a copyright-protected state.
Read more at Snopes.
Oh, anent? An archaic word meaning about or concerning.
Well, I guess I'll have to come up with a new birthday song. I wonder if they Spanish version is copyrighted.
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