9 years ago
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All the 'Happy Birthday' song copyright claims are invalid, federal judge rules
None of the companies that have collected royalties on the "Happy Birthday" song for the past 80 years held a valid copyright claim to one of the most popular songs in history, a federal judge in Los Angeles ruled on Tuesday. In a stunning reversal of decades of copyright claims, the judge ruled that Warner/Chappell never had the right to charge for the use of the "Happy Birthday To You" song.
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http://www.latimes.com
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Forget Disney, this was my favorite case of copyright insanity.
This is a 100 year old song, sung at nearly every birthday party in America. No matter its origins, it has become as much a part of American life as hotdogs and fireworks on 4th of July.
The fact that it couldn't be depicted in a movie without paying some corporation thousands and thousands of dollars was just absurd!