23, 2:18 p.m.: An earlier version of this article said “Happy Birthday” is a six-note song. The song has seen the rise and fall of vinyl records, cassette tapes, CDs and now, the era of digital streaming music. The complex saga of the eight-note ditty has spanned more than 120 years, withstanding two world wars and several eras of copyright law.
The song brings in about $2 million a year in royalties for Warner, according to some estimates. James said the scene was “essential” to the film and ultimately decided to pay up.Īt a March hearing in the case, records show, a Warner/Chappell representative seated in the audience told the judge that the company collects as much as “six figures” for certain single uses of the song. And we only used it for 9 seconds,” James wrote in an email passed along by his publicist. “It was quite expensive for us at that time and with our budget. Filmmaker Steve James paid Warner $5,000 to use the song in his 1994 documentary “Hoop Dreams.” Two of the filmmaker plaintiffs paid $1,500 and $3,000 for the rights to use the song, their attorneys said. The fact that the birthday tune can’t be played or sung without permission from Warner has been little more than a surprising piece of trivia for most, but for Warner Music Group, it has meant big business.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONG FREE
But even those who wanted to sing the song publicly as part of a business, say a restaurant owner giving out free birthday cake to patrons, technically had to pay to use the song, prompting creative renditions at chain eateries trying to avoid paying royalties. Royalties were most often collected from stage productions, television shows, movies or greeting cards. Until now, Warner has asked for royalties from anyone who wanted to sing or play “Happy Birthday to You” - with the lyrics - as part of a profit-making enterprise. Goliath battle that pitted independent filmmakers against a large corporation collecting profits on a song whose authors had long since died. The plaintiffs’ attorneys had characterized the years-long legal fight as a David vs. It’s unbelievable.”Ī spokesman for Warner/Chappell, the publishing arm of Warner Music, said, “We are looking at the court’s lengthy opinion and considering our options.” “‘Happy Birthday’ is finally free after 80 years,” said Randall Newman, an attorney for the plaintiffs in the suit, which included a group of filmmakers who are producing a documentary about the song.
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