Rifkin cited an estimate that Warner/Chappell collected approximately $2 million per year in licensing fees for the song. The company paid $25 million in 1988 to acquire Birchtree Ltd., a small company whose musical holdings included the birthday song. Rifkin said.ДЄ spokesman for Warner/Chappell declined to comment on the suit. вЂњItвЂ™s a song created by the public, it belongs to the public, and it needs to go back to the public,вЂќ Mr.

Hill and Patty Smith Hill, wrote a song with the same melody called вЂњGood Morning to All.вЂќ The suit tracks that songвЂ™s evolution into the familiar birthday song, and its ownership over more than a century.Д«ut although Warner/Chappell claims ownership of вЂњHappy Birthday to You,вЂќ the song was вЂњjust a public adaptationвЂќ of the original song, one of Ms. The lawsuit notes that in the late 1800s, two sisters, Mildred J. Nelson said in an e-mail forwarded by her lawyer, вЂњI never thought the song was owned by anyone. вЂњBefore I began my filmmaking career,вЂќ Ms. NelsonвЂ™s company, Good Morning to You Productions, paid the fee and entered into the agreement, the suit says. In one proposed scene, the song was to be performed.Д«ut to use it in the film, she was told she would have to pay $1,500 and enter into a licensing agreement with Warner/Chappell, the publishing arm of the Warner Music Group. The filmmaker, Jennifer Nelson, was producing a documentary movie, tentatively titled вЂњHappy Birthday,вЂќ about the song, the lawsuit said. The dispute stems from a lawsuit filed on Thursday by a filmmaker in New York who is seeking to have the court declare the popular ditty to be in the public domain, and to block a music company from claiming it owns the copyright to the song and charging licensing fees for its use. But one of its latest venues may be the federal courthouse in Manhattan, where the only parties may be the litigants to a new legal battle. The song вЂњHappy Birthday to YouвЂќ is widely credited for being the most performed song in the world. Now, a filmmaker working on a documentary about the song is going to court to try to get that copyright nullified: Using the song in any commercial context means paying royalties to the copyright owner, royalties that can often run into thousands of dollars depending on how the song its used. The reason for all of this is because the song, written more than 100 years ago, is still under a copyright owned by a subsidiary of the massive Warner Brothers entertainment empire. And, youвЂ™re not going to hear it much on the radio or television either. If you go out to dinner at a restaurant such as the Olive Garden, the wait staff will be singing some other song that nobodyвЂ™s ever heard of as part of their eternally annoying birthday singalong. YourвЂ™re unlikely to hear it in a movie, for example, even if the scene in question is a birthday party for a character where it would seem entirely natural. While youвЂ™re likely to hear it during a backyard birthday party, though, there are plenty of places where youвЂ™re not going to hear it. ItвЂ™s become an almost mandatory part of any birthday celebration, and its lyrics are instantly familiar. вЂњHappy Birthday To YouвЂќ is perhaps one of the best known songs of the past century.

Is the happy birthday song copyrighted