Content deleted Content added
→"Happy birthday to you": and this was the objectionable ref |
m →Copyright status: Removed redundant text, which is fully covered later in the section. |
||
Line 62:
The complete text of "Happy Birthday to You" first appeared in print as the final four lines of Edith Goodyear Alger's poem "Roy's Birthday", published in ''A Primer of Work and Play'', copyrighted by D. C. Heath in 1901, with no reference to the words being sung.<ref>Feaster, Patrick (June 20, 2014), [https://griffonagedotcom.wordpress.com/2014/06/20/edith-goodyear-alger-lyricist-of-happy-birthday-to-you/ "Edith Goodyear Alger: Lyricist of 'Happy Birthday to You'?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304212459/https://griffonagedotcom.wordpress.com/2014/06/20/edith-goodyear-alger-lyricist-of-happy-birthday-to-you/ |date=March 4, 2016 }} ''Griffonage-Dot-Com.''</ref> The first book including "Happy Birthday" lyrics set to the tune of "Good Morning to All" that bears a date of publication is from 1911 in ''The Elementary Worker and His Work'', but earlier references exist to a song called "Happy Birthday to You", including an article from 1901 in the ''Inland Educator and Indiana School Journal''.<ref>{{harvp|US District Court CA|2015|pp=3}}.</ref> In 1924, Robert Coleman included "Good Morning to All" in a songbook with the birthday lyrics as a second verse. Coleman also published "Happy Birthday" in ''The American Hymnal'' in 1933. ''Children's Praise and Worship'' published the song in 1928, edited by Byers, Byrum, and Koglin.{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}}
The Summy Company, publisher of "Good Morning to All", copyrighted piano arrangements by [[Preston Ware Orem]] and a second verse by Mrs. R. R. Forman.<ref name="Romeo2009">{{cite book |first= Dave |last= Romeo |title= Striving for Significance: Life Lessons Learned While Fishing |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=RQl1d2lZ0igC&pg=PA93 |access-date= June 14, 2013 |year= 2009 |publisher= iUniverse |isbn= 978-1-4401-2213-2 |page= 93 |via= [[Google Books]] |archive-date= November 29, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231129060719/https://books.google.com/books?id=RQl1d2lZ0igC&pg=PA93 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref name="Russell2004">{{cite book |first= Carrie |last= Russell |title= Complete Copyright: An Everyday Guide for Librarians |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=qU2fAAAAMAAJ |access-date= June 14, 2013 |date= 2004 |publisher= American Library Association |page= 15 |isbn= 9780838935439 |via= Google Books |archive-date= November 29, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231129060826/https://books.google.com/books?id=qU2fAAAAMAAJ |url-status= live }}</ref> This served as the legal basis for claiming that Summy Company legally registered the copyright for the song, as well as the later renewal of these copyrights.<ref>{{harvp|Brauneis|2010|p=25}}</ref>
Summy Company became the Summy-Birchard Company in 1957, and this became a division of Birch Tree Group Limited in 1970. Warner/Chappell Music acquired Birch Tree Group Limited in 1988 for {{US$}}25 million.<ref name=ages/><ref name="New York Times" /> The company continued to insist that one cannot sing the "Happy Birthday to You" lyrics for profit without paying royalties; in 2008, Warner collected about {{US$}}5,000 per day ({{US$}}2 million per year) in royalties for the song.<ref>{{harvp|Brauneis|2010|pp=4, 68}}.</ref> Warner/Chappell claimed copyright for every use in film, television, radio, and anywhere open to the public, and for any group where a substantial number of those in attendance were not family or friends of the performer. Brauneis cited problems with the song's authorship and the notice and renewal of the copyright, and concluded: "It is almost certainly no longer under copyright."<ref name=slate /><ref name="brauneis" />
| |||