Free to sing the happy birthday song at home and in the office, most Americans don’t realize that the song has long been subject to copyright which has just now been challenged in a 2013 lawsuit. The filmmaker who filed suit with other independent artists was forced to pay $1500 to use the song in her documentary which was tentatively entitled “Happy Birthday.” (The New York Times, July 28, 2015, by Daniel Victor)
Warner Music Group that holds the copyright through 2030 has made millions on the copyright and stand to lose millions more if they lose the case. The plaintiffs say they found a 1922 songbook with the song without a copyright notice. Under a law of the era, that would forfeit the copyright. A 1998 law also holds that anything published before 1923 is part of the public domain. (The New York Times, August 4, 2015, by Ben Sisario)