Happy Birthday is now in the public domain
Happy Birthday is finally in the Public Domain!
According to these articles, a US court has recently declared the classic song "Happy Birthday to You" to be in in the public domain:
• http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34332853
• http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-happy-birthday-song-lawsuit…
• http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/sep/23/us-judge-rules-happy-bi…
• http://money.cnn.com/2015/09/22/media/warner-happy-birthday-to-you/
I have thus typeset an arrangement of the song based upon the song that "Happy Birthday" itself is based upon, "Good Morning to You", and made them available to the public here:
//octavepress.com/happybirthday/
At this link you will find music in both A4 and US Letter sizes. Download, play, and enjoy!
Comments
Sorry... I just noticed your post buried way down here in Made with MuseScore.
This is great news, worthy enough to post in General discussion:
https://musescore.org/en/node/81146
After all, who has never played/heard this song?
Regards.
It really was kind of stupid to have a law that prevents people from singing happy birthday in public in america so I guess this is good news.
In reply to It really was kind of stupid by ZdrytchX
I don't believe that such a law exists or ever existet. A law may have prevented people from singing happy birthday in public in america without pay royalties though.
In reply to I don't believe that such a by Jojo-Schmitz
Not that anyone ever observed that law.
In reply to Not that anyone ever observed by JGitar
Maybe, I've so far only used that song in private, never in public
In reply to Maybe, I've so far only used by Jojo-Schmitz
Comic. (Read the hovercard)
Yeah, I've read this in the news... Warner_Music_Group is now longer allowed to cash up the fees of about 2 Million bucks a year for a song that was composed in a Kindergarden in 1893...
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> See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Birthday_to_You#2013_lawsuit
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Always the very same story... >B^{
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The real artist/composer/songwriter won't get any cent for it. He's got the fame, that's much enough for her/him.
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Every financial profit out of musical work is supposed to be private property for smart american-type businessmen and/or american-type-lawyers (who invented, as everybody should know, the tone, the voice, the song, the string, all kind of instruments, all sound-studio- and record-techniques, production of LP, CD, *.WAV, *.MP3 - and, of course, the note-staff, the clefs, the notes, the accidentals, notepaper and noteprinting, too!)
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But, as this fountain and source of moneymaking without any effort has now dried out - does anybody know about the ©opywrong or ®egistered Tradequark with "For he's a jolly good fellow?" Hey, 'ye Guys and Lawyers from Warner Music Group, don't 'ye notice the smell of money from that?
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FarrierPete