Who knew? The song Happy Birthday To You, the most recognised song in the English language, written back in 1893 (the melody, at least) has been under copyright all these years and in theory we should have paid royalties every time we sang it.
Until now that is.
A US high court judge has ruled that Happy Birthday should be in the public domain and free from copyright.
So, light those candles and sing away!
You say it’s your birthday? —–>
It’s one of those things you notice only when someone tells you about it.
Happy Birthday to you is hardly ever sung on film and TV. The “jolly good fellow” song is used though – with Americans singing “which nobody can deny” at the bit where we would sing “and so say all of us”.
There was something on the radio this morning about restaurant chains changing the words of the song slightly to avoid paying royalties during birthday parties.
Happy Birthday to chew?