“Happy Birthday To You,” the most famous song in the world, is in the public domain, a federal judge ruled Tuesday in Los Angeles. Warner/Chappell Music claimed that it owned the copyright to the melody, but the ruling makes the song available to everyone for free.
Documentary filmmaker Jennifer Nelson discovered in June 2013 that Warner/Chappell claimed it owned the copyright to the song when she was trying to make a film about the song's origins. The publisher asked her to sign a licensing agreement and pay them, but Nelson instead decided to sue so a judge would declare the song in the public domain.
According to The Los Angeles Times, Judge George H. King ruled that Clayton F. Summy Co. filed for copyright in 1935, but that was just for the rights of a specific piano arrangement, not for the song itself. Warner/Chappell has owned Birch Tree Music, the successor of Summy Co., since 1988.
“'Happy Birthday' is finally free after 80 years,” Randall Newman, one of the attorneys for the group of plaintiffs, which included Nelson’s company, said Tuesday. “Finally, the charade is over. It's unbelievable.”
“We are looking at the court's lengthy opinion and considering our options,” a Warner/Chappell spokesman said.
Prior to the ruling, Warner had been seeking royalties for any use of “Happy Birthday To You” in films, television, commercials and even greeting cards. Even restaurant chains were supposed to pay Warner whenever their employees sing “Happy Birthday” to customers, which explains why some chains came up with their own “Happy Birthday” song.
Warner/Chappell made $2 million a year in royalties just from this one song, according to estimates. But King wrote that the melody had really been in the public domain since at least 1949, notes Variety.
“Happy Birthday To You” and its melody actually began in 1893 as “Good Morning To You,” written by sisters Patty Smith Hill and Mildred J. Hill. It was first published in a book called Song Stories for the Kindergarten.