"Happy Birthday to You", also known as "Happy Birthday", is a song traditionally sung to celebrate a person's
birthday
A birthday is the anniversary of the birth of a person, or figuratively of an institution. Birthdays of people are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with birthday gifts, birthday cards, a birthday party, or a rite of passage.
Many relig ...
. According to the 1998 ''
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
'', it is the most recognised song in the
English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
, followed by "
For He's a Jolly Good Fellow
"For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" is a popular song that is sung to congratulate a person on a significant event, such as a promotion, a birthday, a wedding (or playing a major part in a wedding), a retirement, a wedding anniversary, the birth of a ...
". The song's base lyrics have been translated into at least 18 languages. The melody of "Happy Birthday to You" comes from the song "Good Morning to All", which has traditionally been attributed to American sisters
Patty
A patty or burger (in British English) is a flattened, usually round, Serving size, serving of ground meat and/or legumes, grains, vegetables, or Meat analogue, meat alternatives. Patties are found in multiple cuisines throughout the world.
...
and
Mildred J. Hill in 1893,
although the claim that the sisters composed the tune is disputed.
The song is in the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
in the United States and the European Union.
Warner Chappell Music
Warner Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company and a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Warner Chappell Music's catalogue consists of over 1.4 million compositions and 65,000 composers, with offices in over 40 countries.
...
had previously claimed copyright on the song in the US and collected licensing fees for its use; in 2015 the copyright claim was declared invalid and Warner Chappell agreed to pay back $14 million in licensing fees.
History
Patty Hill was a kindergarten principal in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
developing various teaching methods at the
Little Loomhouse
The Little Loomhouse is a place on the National Register of Historic Places in the Kenwood Hill neighborhood on the south side of Louisville, Kentucky. It consists of three cabins constructed between 1870 and 1896: Esta Cabin, Tophouse, and Wist ...
, and her sister Mildred was a pianist and composer. The sisters used "Good Morning to All" as a song that young children would find easy to sing. The combination of melody and lyrics in "Happy Birthday to You" first appeared in print in 1912. None of the early appearances of the "Happy Birthday to You" lyrics included credits or copyright notices. The Summy Company registered a copyright in 1935, crediting authors
Preston Ware Orem and Mrs. R. R. Forman. In 1988,
Warner/Chappell Music
Warner Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company and a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Warner Chappell Music's catalogue consists of over 1.4 million compositions and 65,000 composers, with offices in over 40 countries.
...
purchased the company owning the copyright for 25 million, with the value of "Happy Birthday" estimated at 5 million.
Warner claimed that the United States copyright would not expire until 2030, and that unauthorized public performances of the song are illegal unless royalties are paid. In February 2010, the royalty for a single use was 700. By one estimate, the song is the highest-earning single song in history. In the European Union, the copyright for the song expired on January 1, 2017.[EU countries observe the "life + 70" copyright standard.]
The American copyright status of "Happy Birthday to You" began to draw more attention with the passage of the Copyright Term Extension Act
The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act – also known as the Copyright Term Extension Act, Sonny Bono Act, or (derisively) the Mickey Mouse Protection Act – extended copyright terms in the United States in 1998. It is one of several a ...
in 1998. The Supreme Court upheld the Act in ''Eldred v. Ashcroft
''Eldred v. Ashcroft'', 537 U.S. 186 (2003), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States upholding the constitutionality of the 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA). The practical result of this was to prevent a number ...
'' in 2003, and Associate Justice Stephen Breyer
Stephen Gerald Breyer ( ; born August 15, 1938) is a retired American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1994 until his retirement in 2022. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton, and repl ...
specifically mentioned "Happy Birthday to You" in his dissenting opinion. American law professor Robert Brauneis
Robert F. Brauneis is a professor of intellectual property law at the George Washington University Law School.
Biography
Brauneis received a B.A. from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1982,The George Washington University Law School, ...
extensively researched the song and concluded in 2010 that "it is almost certainly no longer under copyright."[.] Good Morning to You Productions sued Warner/Chappell for falsely claiming copyright to the song in 2013. In September 2015, a federal judge declared that the Warner/Chappell copyright claim was invalid, ruling that the copyright registration applied only to a specific piano arrangement of the song and not to its lyrics and melody. In 2016, Warner/Chappell settled for $14 million, and the court declared that "Happy Birthday to You" is in the public domain.
Lyrics
"Happy birthday to you"
The person whose birthday is being celebrated is filled in for "AME #REDIRECT AME #REDIRECT AME
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