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Happy Birthday To You

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1988

Warner owns Happy Birthday
Warner Music becomes owners of the song and benefits from its reported $2 million annual royalties. The Hill Foundation, set up in the sisters’ honor, has collected half of all royalties since 1893, with some going to their nephew Archibald, after Patty’s death in 1946.

2010

Questions raised over ownership
Robert Brauneis publishes his paper, ‘Copyright and the World’s Most Popular Song’, bringing the Hills’ ownership of the melody into dispute.

2013

Happy Birthday goes to court
Filmmaker Jennifer Nelson files a lawsuit against Warner Music after they charged her $1500 to make a film about the song and include a clip of it.

2015

Happy Birthday becomes royalty-free

A US judge rules ‘Happy Birthday to you’ is not under copyright. The ruling means royalties will no longer have to be paid to Warner Music for use of the popular song.

Now Happy Birthday has returned to the public domain, you can expect to hear it far more frequently on films, adverts, and TV shows.

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SOURCE:

The Telegraph: Happy Birthday Song And Its Strange Past

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