[Dixielandjazz] Singing Happy Birthday is a No-No - Was Who is BMI

Scott Anthony santh at pacbell.net
Tue Apr 17 09:40:17 PDT 2007


The ownership of Happy Birthday and the enforcement by ASCAP are probably 
the reason you no longer hear it being sung by the employees of restaurants 
when they have a birthday at a table. I wondered why Chevy's, a Mexican 
restaurant chain out here in California (and probably elsewhere), started 
singing an equally inane tune for inhabitants of birthday tables.

Scott Anthony

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: <santh at pacbell.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 7:05 AM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Singing Happy Birthday is a No-No - Was Who is BMI


> List-Message-Recipient: santh at pacbell.net
>
> Did you know Happy Birthday is copyrighted and the copyright is currently
> owned and actively enforced by Time Warner?
>
> Did you know that if you sing any copyrighted song:
> ...at a place open to the public
> ...or among a substantial number of people who are not family or friends
> You are involved in a public performance of that work?
> You can hum and/or play Happy Birthday without infringing on a copyright
> because the melody is in the public domain. But if you sing it, beware. 
> Note
> that the lyrics were copyrighted in 1935, are now owned by Time Warner, 
> and
> the copyright is vigorously enforced by ASCAP. The lyrics generate $2
> million dollars a year for Time Warner. NONE OF THAT GOES TO JESSICA HILL
> one of the original family members who authored the tune and then
> copyrighted the lyrics.
>
> The reason the copyright laws on music are "extended" frequently is 
> because
> "money talks", the big boys have the money, and they contribute some of it
> to political action committees of politicians hoping to be reelected. 
> Then,
> when the copyrights are about to run out, they get a "favor" from the
> politicians they now own.
>
> In simpler times, we'd call it bribery. Net result? We are being 
> repeatedly
> screwed by the corporate greed inherent in the music business.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
>
>
> The melody for Happy Birthday was first penned by two sisters from 
> Kentucky,
> Mildred J. Hill and Patty Smith Hill. The song was called Good Morning to
> All, but bore the recognizable melody. The tune was first published in 
> 1893
> in the book Song Stories for the Kindergarten. The melody has since passed
> into the public domain, and is safe to hum in public without permission.
>
> While it is not entirely clear who first wrote down the words for Happy
> Birthday, it showed up in a few places before Jessica Hill (another Hill
> sister) was able to demonstrate undeniable similarities between Good 
> Morning
> to All and Happy Birthday and to secure the copyright to the song.
>
> Working with the Clayton F. Summy Publishing Company, Jessica Hill 
> published
> and copyrighted Happy Birthday in 1935. While the copyright should have
> expired in 1991, copyright has been extended repeatedly over the last
> quarter of the twentieth century and the copyright for Happy Birthday is 
> now
> not due to expire until at least 2030.
>
> The Clayton F. Summy Company is no longer independent, but, through a 
> chain
> of purchases, the copyright for Happy Birthday To You lies securely in the
> hands of the Time Warner company. Happy Birthday's copyright is licensed 
> and
> enforced by ASCAP, and the simple little ditty brings in more than USD $2
> million in annual royalties.
>
>
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