TIL the generic but world famous 'Happy Birthday to You' song was actually copyrighted until 2016
Happily, “Happy Birthday to You” Is in the Public Domain Now
Wellllllllll
It actually wasn't, but someone claimed it was, and would sue people who used it. Most would settle and agree not to use it. This is also why most chain restaurants had their own alternative birthday songs.
It was only that in 2016 somebody actually said to them "prove it" and took them to court, which found their copyright claim to be without merit.
Incidentally, there is no penalty for this.
Is that what happened? I knew there was some court copyright thing about the song that changed around then. I had no idea it was just someone claiming they owned it and got called out. 😂
Some restaurants started singing the normal Happy Birthday song and I kinda miss those corny restaurant ones.
Which was obviously bullshit (that they were given a copyright). The 2016 date is how long it took for some group to take the time and effort to get it thrown out finally.
So it's a bit more complicated than that.
I believe it was Warner Brothers who held the copyright but it had been disputed whether they actually owned the rights. But it's one of those situations where taking them to court to find out was going to cost a lot more than paying the license.
WB didn't have to prove they owned it to get people to pay. They only needed to show that they held the copyright to it and the history of other people paying did the rest. Sort of like paying protection to a local mob.
So when WB finally got sued and they had to show receipts, the judge decided against them and we got something in the public domain.
A good write up here: https://time.com/3976577/happy-birthday-copyright-history/
What day is today?
It's Nibbler's birthday!
What a day for a birthday.
Let's all have some cake!
And you smell like one too!
that Futurama DVD commentary is where I learnt that Happy Birthday was Copyrighted
I always thought this is why Olive Garden, Red Lobster, whatever 80s/90s fad chain restaurant sang their own birthday songs for patrons.
Happy happy birthday..
<br>
It’s your special day..<br>
<br>
happy happy birthday<br>
That’s why we’re here to say HEY!<br>
<br>
Happy happy birthday<br>
may alll your dreams come true<br>
<br>
happy happy birthday<br>
from Bennigans to you..HEY!
That's what I heard about Chevy's, too.
I remember a bunch of Yout×be videos being taken down due to people singing it. So stupid..
i cant fathom why you would censor "youtube" nor why you would use a special character for that purpose.
i am intrigued.
subscribed.
Happy Birthday Lisa is better anyway.
Stevie Wonder version is superior anyways
Wow, it hit public domain THAT long ago?
Actually it hit public domain way before that, but it went to court in 2016. I remember it was pretty big fucking deal. Because it was public domain in freaking 90's. Whoever held copyright never updated it, yet no one was aware of it until someone went to court to challenge the copyright.
Aaron Sorkin's criminally-underappreciated "Sports Night" had a subplot about this.
Did this only apply to the US?
and this is why copyright makes no sense!
It was not copyrighted until 2016. Seeing as it's from the 1800s, that would not be possible.
There was a long running TV Trope caused by shows not wanting to license happy birthday.
Scene starts
🎶 tooo yooouuu! 🎶
I never would have thought this is a legit way of circumventing copyright. Holy shit.
Obligatory Community clip
30 Rock did it the other way around while also poking fun at the trope itself
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MymL4feJOhs
Crazy ! I didn’t know that