ruth-black-shutterstock-com-2

23 September 2015Copyright

No copyright to ‘Happy Birthday’ lyrics, judge rules

A US judge has ruled that the lyrics to “Happy Birthday to You” are not protected by copyright, finding against music publisher Warner/Chappell.

Already registered?

Login to your account

For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk

More on this story

'Historic result': Happy Birthday public domain deal agreed

10 February 2016 Music publisher Warner/Chappell has agreed that “Happy Birthday to You” can enter the public domain and will pay out $14 million, in what has been described as a “historical result” by the film makers that brought the case.

Parties celebrate as ‘Happy Birthday’ copyright dispute settled

10 December 2015 A copyright lawsuit centring on the song “Happy Birthday to You” has been settled out of court.

Charity claims it owns ‘Happy Birthday’ copyright

16 November 2015 A children’s charity has stepped into the heated copyright dispute surrounding the popular “Happy birthday to you” tune, claiming it is the correct owner of the lyrics’ rights.

More articles

UK-India trade deal is ‘missed opportunity’, say industry bodies

INTA 2025: San Diego to host largest post-COVID Annual Meeting

'Nothing can stand in the way of our work': Ukraine resumes IP system

Foley adds five-partner team from Perkins Coie and K&L Gates

Cahill expands practice with three-partner team from King & Spalding

Apple must pay Optis $700m-the biggest patent award in UK history

US-China tariffs: What hope is there for IP rightsholders?

Lenovo Global IP Litigation director joins O'Melveny