Happy Birthday To You song might be soon be freed from copyright - TomoNews
LOS ANGELES — Evidence in a lawsuit against Warner/Chappell Music Inc. suggests that one of the most recognizable songs in the English language, "Happy Birthday to You," is not covered by copyright. Filmmakers at New York-based Good Morning to You Productions recently tracked down an early edition of the song published in 1922, when Patty and Mildred Hill, its original composers, assigned the song's rights to a publishing company. However, this early edition was printed with a Special Permission notice rather than with a copyright claim. In 1935, a piano arrangement of the song was copyrighted by a company called Birch Tree Group. It was this 1935 piano arrangement that Warner Music Group later acquired for $25 million in 1988. Filmmakers have found the 1922 edition of the Happy Birthday with no copyright notice, and are using it as evidence against Warner/Chappell's copyright claims. The production company has filed a lawsuit against Warner/Chappell and asked the federal court to declare the song of public domain. If "Happy Birthday To You" is declared free from copyright, Warner/Chappell might be asked to return the "millions of dollars of unlawful licensing fees" it has collected from reproductions of the song. ----------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to TomoNews, where we animate the most entertaining news on the internets. Come here for an animated look at viral headlines, US news, celebrity gossip, salacious scandals, dumb criminals and much more! Subscribe now for daily news animations that will knock your socks off. Visit our official website for all the latest, uncensored videos: http://us.tomonews.net Check out our Android app: http://bit.ly/1rddhCj Check out our iOS app: http://bit.ly/1gO3z1f Stay connected with us here: Facebook / tomonewsus Twitter @tomonewsus / tomonewsus Google+ http://plus.google.com/+TomoNewsUS/ Instagram @tomonewsus / tomonewsus ~-~~-~~~-~~-~ Please watch: "Crying dog breaks the internet’s heart — but this sad dog story has a happy ending" • Video ~-~~-~~~-~~-~
