Judge Frees 'Happy Birthday’ Song From Copyright Claims
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOS ANGELES — In a gift to many musicians, movie-makers and other content-creators, a federal judge has found that the song “Happy Birthday To You” is entirely in the public domain.

But the move could mean millions lost for the music publishing company that has been collecting on the copyright to one of the most widely sung songs in the world.

U.S. District Judge George H. King found Tuesday that the song’s original copyright, obtained by the Clayton F. Summy Co. from the song’s writers and bought for $15 million in 1988 by Warner/Chappell Music Inc., only covered specific piano arrangements of the song and not its lyrics.

The basic “Happy Birthday” tune, derived from another popular children’s song, “Good Morning to All,” has long been in the public domain, and King’s decision, though it could be appealed, makes the entirety fair game for use.

““Happy Birthday” is finally free after 80 years,” Randall Newman, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, told the Los Angeles Times.

One of the co-plaintiffs, Ruypa Marya of the music group Ruypa & The April Fishes, also praised the decision as momentous, saying “I hope we can start reimagining copyright law to do what it’s supposed to do — protect the creations of people who make stuff so that we can continue to make more stuff.”

Marya, said she had paid Warner/Chappell $455 to include the song on a live album during which members of her band and audience sang the song to her the night before her birthday.

Warner/Chappell has said it doesn’t try to collect royalties from just anyone singing the song but those who use it in a commercial enterprise.

“We are looking at the court’s lengthy opinion and considering our options,” Warner/Chappell said in a statement following Tuesday’s ruling.

King’s decision comes in a lawsuit filed two years ago by Good Morning To You Productions Corp., which is working on a documentary film tentatively titled “Happy Birthday.” The company challenged the copyright, arguing that the song should be “dedicated to public use and in the public domain.”

“Because Summy Co. never acquired the rights to the “Happy Birthday” lyrics, defendants, as Summy Co.’s purported successors-in-interest, do not own a valid copyright in the Happy Birthday lyrics,” King concluded in his 43-page ruling.

The lawsuit also asked for monetary damages and restitution of more than $5 million in licensing fees it said in 2013 that Warner/Chappell had collected from thousands of people and groups who’ve paid to use the song over the years.

Marshall Lamm, a spokesman for one of the plaintiffs” lawyers, said that issue would be determined later.

In his ruling King went into great detail about the history of “Happy Birthday To You,” and its derivation from “Good Morning to All.”

That song was written by sisters Mildred Hill and Patty Hill sometime before 1893, the judge said, adding that the sisters assigned the rights to it and other songs to Clayton F. Summy, who copyrighted and published them in a book titled “Song Stories for the Kindergarten.”

“The origins of the lyrics to Happy Birthday ... are less clear,” the judge continued, adding the first known reference to them appeared in a 1901 article in the Inland Educator and Indiana School Journal.

The full lyrics themselves, King said, didn’t appear in print until 1911.

Since then, they have become the most famous lyrics in the English language, according to Guinness World Records. The song is also sung in countless other languages around the world.

生日快樂歌版權案 華納被判不得收費

一名聯邦法官9月22日判決，多年來靠全球被傳唱最多歌曲之一「生日快樂歌」（Happy Birthday To You）收取版稅的華納音樂出版公司（Warner/Chappell Music Inc.），對該曲歌詞並無有效版權。

聯邦法官金恩（George H. King）認定，由桑米公司（Clayton F. Summy Co.）向原作曲人取得的原始版權只包括這首歌的樂曲而非歌詞。

這件官司兩年前由祝你早安製作公司（Good Morning To You Productions Corp.）提出，該公司當時正在籌拍暫名「生日快樂」的紀錄片。該公司挑戰目前擁有版權的華納音樂公司，認為此曲應開放給大家使用。

金恩在43頁判決書說：「由於桑米公司從未取得『生日快樂歌』歌詞，被告身為桑米公司指定的版權承繼者，並無生日快樂歌歌詞的有效版權。」

這件官司也要求華納賠償原告，並吐出原告2013年所說該公司歷年來向個人與團體索取的超過500萬美元用歌費。原告之一的律師發言人蘭姆（Marshall Lamm）說，此一部分將在以後解決。

名列原告之一的合唱團魯伊巴四月魚（Ruypa & The April Fishes）主唱魯伊巴馬雅（Ruypa Mary）22日稱讚法官判決。她說，她的一張現場直錄唱片有這首生日快樂歌。那是因為當時第二天是她生日，樂團團員與觀眾對她唱歌祝她生日快樂，因此必須付華納455美元。

華納曾說，他們並未向每個唱這首歌的人收版稅，只有用來作商業用途的人才須付費。華納在22日判決後聲明說：「我們還在看法官的冗長判決，並考慮我們的選擇。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/09/23/us/ap-us-happy-birthday-copyright.html

2015-09-24 03:15:12 世界日報 美聯社