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

[Scott Anthony]

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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