#WHO OWNS THE HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONG LICENSE#

The copyright of the song and the collection of royalties was now in the hands of Warner/Chappell.įor almost 23 years Warner/Chappell’s rights over the song went unquestioned. Later the company re-named itself Birch Tree Group Limited in the 1970s and then was later bought by Warner/Chappell Music in 1988 for $25 million. Summy Company acquired CC Birchard & Company in 1957, to become Summy-Birchard Company. The song was then passed down through company acquisition and restructuring. In an attempt to claim copyright for the altered piece, a different Hill sister, Jessica Hill, copyrighted the specific piano arrangement of the song and melody under music publisher Summy Company in 1935. But what the Hill sisters did not expect was that the song’s lyrics would be hijacked and that it would gain even more notoriety with the simple switch of ‘good morning’ for ‘happy birthday’.Īfter many years of unlicensed use, the song Happy Birthday gained popularity while Good Morning to All faded from memory. It was first used as a simple melody to help teach young children literacy, with the simple verse: ‘Good morning to you, good morning to you, good morning dear children, good morning to all’. Hill in the 1890s and was first published in the songbook Song Stories for the Kindergarten in 1893. The song ‘Good Morning to All’ was written by the Hill sisters, Patty and Mildred J. The origin of the song has been disputed over the years, with the lyrics being said to have spontaneously transformed from a very similar, and melodically the same, song entitled ‘Good Morning to All’. In a landmark case settled in September 2015, the song was ruled effectively in the ‘public domain’ and no longer under Warner/Chappell’s copyright, but how did such a traditional song come under the company’s copyright?

#WHO OWNS THE HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONG LICENSE#

With the license fee infringing on creativity, one documentary filmmaker had enough and decided to sue. Chain restaurants in America are unwilling to pay the licensing fee, which is why when they bring out a cake to customers, they don’t sing the expected Happy Birthday song, they instead sing their own rendition of a birthday-themed song.Īdverts often avoid using the song or make their own, for example in this Weetabix advert from 2014.

To avoid such legal disasters, more and more public organisations are creating their own Happy Birthday style songs. This copyright legislation left the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) particularly embarrassed in the 1990s, when they attempted to recover royalties from the Girl Scouts of America for their performances of campfire songs including ‘Happy Birthday’. In order to legally perform that song in a public space, you would first need to license the song from Warner/Chappell, even if you are not using it for commercial purposes. While it’s commonplace for families to sing Happy Birthday together in the privacy of their own home, if one was to move that song to a public setting, such as a restaurant, then there would be a copyright issue.

Who owns the happy birthday song