'Happy Birthday' Song Copyright Ruling 'Welcome Victory,' Public Knowledge Says

Public Knowledge praised the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles for the court's Tuesday ruling that Warner/Chappell's copyright claim on the “Happy Birthday to You” song is invalid. U.S. District Judge George King ruled that Warner/Chappell and other companies that previously owned the right to the song didn't have a valid claim because the original copyright claim filed in 1935 by the Clayton F. Summy Co. pertained only to certain piano arrangements of the song rather than the song itself (see 1509230072). The ruling “is a welcome victory for the public,” said Public Knowledge Policy Counsel Raza Panjwani in a news release on Tuesday. “Although this decision does not mean that 'Happy Birthday' is unquestionably in the public domain, it dismantles Warner/Chappell’s unfounded claims of ownership.” The district court's decision “also raises serious concerns as to how much of our culture remains under lock and key on the basis of flimsy or barely credible claims of ownership,” Panjwani said. “Thanks to multiple extensions of copyright term length, copyrights have remained in effect while the records that can definitively answer questions of ownership or public domain status moulder away.”