"Happy Birthday to You" is the most well recognized song in the English language. Yet in movies and television you probably never heard the song sung in its entirety or exactly as it's written, why? Because it's so heavily copyrighted that it costs thousands just to sing it! If you sing Happy Birthday to your family at home, you're probably not committing copyright infringement. However, if you do it in an restaurant — and if the restaurant hasn't already worked out a deal with ASCAP — you may be engaging in copyright infringement!! The song brings in about $2 million in royalties a year. In 1990, Warner Chappell purchased the company owning the copyright for US$15 million, with the value of "Happy Birthday" estimated at US$5 million. It's copyrighted till 2030!!
No comments:
Post a Comment