‘Happy Birthday to You’ song copyright struck down

A federal judge in California on Tuesday invalidated the copyright on the “Happy Birthday to You” song, meaning producers would no longer have to pay licensing fees to feature the popular song in films and television shows.

The lawsuit started in 2013 when a filmmaker who is producing a documentary about the song sued Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. to invalidate the copyright. 

{mosads}The filmmaker, Jennifer Nelson, was asked to pay $1,500 to license the song for her film, and the lawsuit argued the company should pay back the millions in fees it has acquired over the years from the allegedly invalid copyright. 

Judge George King’s opinion notes the facts surrounding the song — now more than 100 years old — are murky. The song’s ownership and even authorship were in dispute. But he concluded that the purported authors of the song never transferred song lyric rights to the company Summy Co., which was eventually acquired by the Warner/Chappell company. 

“Because Summy Co. never acquired the rights to the Happy Birthday lyrics, Defendants, as Summy Co.’s purported successors-in-interest, do not own a valid copyright in the Happy Birthday lyrics,” the judge wrote in the ruling. 

Warner/Chappell makes up to $2 million per year in licensing fees from the song, according to prior estimates. 

According to the facts in the case, “Happy Birthday to You” is based on the melody of “Good Morning to All,” written by sisters Mildred and Patty Hill in 1893. They later purported to write the iconic “Happy Birthday to You” song lyrics. But the judge found they failed to assert their copyright over the lyrics. 

Rights to a number of the sisters’ works were eventually transferred to Summy Co., which registered a copyright to “Happy Birthday to You” in 1935. If valid, that copyright would last until 2030, according to law at the time. 

However, the judge found that it is unclear that the sisters owned the rights to the lyrics. In any event, the judge found the lyrics were not part of the transfer of compositions to Summy Co. 

“In 1934, four decades after Patty supposedly wrote the song, they finally asserted their rights to the Happy Birthday/Good Morning melody—but still made no claim to the lyrics,” the judge added, according to the ruling.