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> ...a copyright filed by the Summy Co. in 1935 granted only the rights to specific arrangements of the music, not the actual song.... "Because Summy Co. never
by doughj3 11y ago
> ...a copyright filed by the Summy Co. in 1935 granted only the rights to specific arrangements of the music, not the actual song.... "Because Summy Co. never acquired the rights to the Happy Birthday lyrics," wrote King, "Defendants, as Summy Co.'s purported successors-in-interest, do not own a valid copyright in the Happy Birthday lyrics."
So the lyrics are not covered, but is the melody?
- matthewrudy 11y agoThe melody is the melody from "Good Morning to You" which dates to 1893.
- triangleman 11y agoSo let me get this straight. Humming the birthday song without actually singing the words was perfectly acceptable for public performances since 1988? (1893 + 95 years)
- cookiecaper 11y agoThe copyright on all works issued prior to 1923 expired no later than December 31, 1978 if my reading of this PDF [0] from the U.S. Copyright Office is correct. In particular, if the melody had a copyright date of 1893, it would've expired no later than December 31, 1949, because copyrights could only be held for a maximum of 56 years (one 28-year initial term and the potential for one 28-year renewal). [0] http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ15a.pdf http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ15a.pdf
- 6stringmerc 11y agoYeah, pretty much from what I understand. If somebody can't tell the difference between "Good Morning to You" and "Happy Birthday to You" based on the melody line, then no sweat!