Talk:Happy Birthday to You
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The article claims that "The current owner of the 1935 copyright believes that one cannot sing 'Happy Birthday to You' lyrics for profit without paying royalties." I can't find anything confirming this. Source? - Ketsuekigata 22:15 19 November 2006
Hey! Isn't including the full text of an editorial a copyright violation!? --Frecklefoot 18:12 22 May 2003 (UTC)
This article has great material in it...but it needs major NPOV editing. I like it though :) Kingturtle 18:43 22 May 2003 (UTC)
Note to J. Byron, who added a lot of material recently: Thanks for your huge contribution! Please consider signing in and creating a user page for yourself here. A couple of minor points to note though. We don't sign articles on Wikipedia, the credits are stored in the page history (and people list their work on their user page sometimes). Articles are written in an encyclopedic rather than reporting style, so first-person isn't appropriate. You don't need to make any changes yourself, as eveyone is free to edit everyone else's work. Cheers. -- Tarquin 19:02 22 May 2003 (UTC)
Hi, I was unaware of your editing rules. I am having some trouble navigating your site. No copyright violation, it is my own research and editorial. I posted the same material elsewhere. J. Byron prevent_spam_email@yahoo.com (this is a real email)
- Try the village pump page. That has links to our FAQ pages, and you can post on the "pump" to ask for help. welcome to the site! -- Tarquin
Good stuff, Mr. Byron. I did a touch of editing - replaced your legal disclaimers with our standard ones, for example. Oh, and I felt I had to trim these songs - not really encyclopedic for us to include our own compositions! :) Martin
This is so stupid. Americans "show off" too much, especially in medias like encylopedias. I see "The melody of "Happy Birthday to You" was written by American sisters Patty and" They were an AMERICAN... oh YAH.. they were an AMERICAN sisters.. THEY WERE AN AMERICAN SISTERS! Not just this article, there's plenty more which have "AMERICAN" and redirecting to Undited States.
- Why the hostility? I don't see why this is a problem. It's not at all uncommon to cite the country of origin for a composer or a musical work, nor is it uncommon to link to that country's article. I would cite examples, but there's no need... merely search any musician, composer, or folk song and there's a decent chance that this will be the case. --TeN 01:58, 21 May 2006 (UTC)
- How mature of you to insult all Americans. "Americans 'show off' too much." *rolls eyes*. And, so what if they were American sisters, but then again, so what if the article links to the United States article? Is it affecting the integrity or truth of the information contained in the article? No. Then is doesn't matter if it's linked or not. Focus on other things that do affect the article, like the fact that it needs more citing.
- Mer-ry Christ-mas to You!
- Mer-ry Christ-mas to You!
- Mer-ry Christ-mas Dear Fri-ends
- Mer-ry Christ-mas to All.
- © 2003, J. Byron, but dedicated to the public domain.
- Mer-ry [your holiday here] to You!
- Mer-ry [your holiday here] to You!
- Mer-ry [your holiday here] Dear Fri-ends
- Mer-ry [your holiday here] to All.
I guess you are right. I posted my revised article at InfoAnarchy.
http://www.infoanarchy.org/?op=comments&sid=2003/5/31/16042/4219&cid=3
Feel free to rewrite the information (for your pages) as you see fit :-)
J. Byron
- Thanks for letting us know :)
So Warner Communications owns the rights to Happy Birthday? Well, they must be KAJILLIONAIRES by now with all the daily singings of the song around the world! ;) SD6-Agent 09:49, 27 Oct 2003 (UTC)
Contents |
[edit] Most popular?
Happy Birthday is among the top three most popular songs in the English language, along with "Auld Lang Syne" and "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow."
That needs a reference. --zandperl 03:43, 4 Feb 2004 (UTC)
- I've attributed it to the Guinness Book of World Records. See [1]. anthony (see warning) 15:00, 8 Aug 2004 (UTC)
[edit] So retuarants can sing it?
There is an urban legend that resturants are not allowed to sing Happy Birthday to You, as that would infringe upon the copyright. However, public performance rights are given to the owner of the melody, not the lyrics. So is this urban legend false? anthony (see warning) 14:33, 8 Aug 2004 (UTC)
- I'm pretty sure the lyrics are copyrighted too. What makes you think they aren't? It's not like I can make up my own tune and then sing the entire lyrics of, say, "I can't get no satisfaction" over it, right? Restaurants pay royalties for all the music played in their establishment (including radio, CDs, live bands, etc.), usually in a bulk monthly fee. Presumably the list of songs they pay for includes Happy Birthday to You, so maybe that's why there isn't a big problem. 21:58, 10 May 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Happy Birthday to You
The song seems to be more popularly referred to as Happy Birthday to You. Also, this resolves the disambiguation to some extent, so I moved it there. anthony (see warning) 14:57, 8 Aug 2004 (UTC)
removed this bit:
"And a other versionis:
Happy Birthday to you, I went to my backyard, I saw a dog, and He snifed like you,too"
I think someone just wanted to put in his two-tenths of a cent.
[edit] Copyrightism
Can't believe a song with common use to such a vastitude is restricted. We hereby propose your attention to the emerging "copyrightism". In such case either should the copyright be exempted or the government or whatever national body should buy the work into public domain. How chould your decency impossible imagine to apply for a licence everytime you sing the song in a restaurant or in the general public?
I am SERIOUSLY considering starting a campaign to buy the rights to "Happy Birthday." I don't have the money to do it as an individual, but I'm if we get enough people to donate, say $1-$10 US we'll be able to do it as a group. Anyone want to help? Writerchick 21:06, 23 April 2006 (UTC)
- As seen in some of the linked articles, there are people with good arguments to the effect that this particular copyright is invalid. Perhaps somebody could actually take the alleged owner to court over it. *Dan T.* 21:27, 23 April 2006 (UTC)
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- Saying that the copyright is invalid, just because its a popular song, is like saying Mickey Mouse should be in the public domain, just because a lot of people like him. Someone created this song, and they (or more likely someone representing their estate, which is just as legally, and morally applicable) deserve to be compensated for it. If they chose to sell their copyright, thats also their right. The person who then owns the copyright post transaction has the same legal (and moral) rights to be compensated for its use, as the original owner did. If you created something popular, and it provided for you financially, there isn't a single person on this board who wouldn't be upset if that property was moved into the public domain, simply because a lot of people like it. No one is saying you can't sing it at your birthday party. Television shows are highly profitable for networks, and its entirely reasonable for them to be forced to pay a fee to use material for their show. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 207.154.101.37 (talk) 07:15, 31 January 2007 (UTC).
[edit] First Verse?
The phrase "The first verse goes like this" implies that there are more than one verse. However, a search of the Web turns up no other Web sites that give even this first verse. Can anyone come up with a reference to some authoritative information on this putative first verse or on any subsequent original verses?
Also, if the claim is that this verse and the chorus comprise the complete song, then the entry should be edited to reflect that fact (by omitting the "first verse" phrase). Other Web sites are copying this entry, so we should try to get this right, yes? David 14:56, 28 July 2005 (UTC)
[edit] "cha cha cha"??
Being long out of childhood and not having children myself, I was surprised to learn today that modern kids add "cha cha cha" after every verse of the song. A quick Google revealed this to be rather well established.
I would like know the origin of this alteration and perhaps see the info added to the entry if it is deemed relevant.
It's fairly common, far more common than some of the additional verses, so I think it would warrent being included. --TeN 01:58, 21 May 2006 (UTC)
- Never heard of it myself. Perhaps it's an American practice? Nil Einne 17:36, 15 October 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Copyright expiration date?
The first paragraph says it expires in 2030; the second, in 2008 (lyrics) and 2016 (music) - which is right? UOSSReiska 16:25, 10 August 2006 (UTC)
- The 2008/2016 years are for other countries that observe life + 70 years (not the U.S.). That shift in the copyright section was not obvious, so I split into subsections. —Twigboy 17:51, 29 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] What lawsuit
It seems something has been lost in an edit:
- Contrary to what is often erroneously reported, the lawsuit was dropped, and there was no outcome to the case. As a result, the Summy Company registered the copyright for Happy Birthday to You, which does not affect today's public domain status of "Good Morning to All."
The lawsuit is not mentioned anywhere else so readers like me are left wondering, what lawsuit? I could probably find this out in the history but I'm a bit buzy at the mo Nil Einne 17:37, 15 October 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Legal issues
In the international section:
- Shouldn't some mention be made of the fact (as suggested in the American section) others may have had these lyrics before they were "made" by Preston copyrighted in which case I assume the copyright would be invalid?
- Aren't works for hire considered under other jurisdictions?
Nil Einne 17:42, 15 October 2006 (UTC)
In the US section it's not explained very well. They were only copyrighted in 1935 but they clearly existed in 1928 (and 31 and 33). They weren't copyrighted then. I assume you can copyright something which someone else wrote before you so I assume then that Preston is purported to have written these lyrics before 1928 but this isn't explained... Also where does Summy fit in to all this. They evidently published the song Good Morning To All written by the sisters but where, when and how did they publish it? Did the two sisters write it for them (work for hire) or what? It's rather confusing! Nil Einne 17:52, 15 October 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Sorry!
Anyone who reads this article's history page will find that [[Special:Contributions/68.125.34.1|68.125.34.1]] is wrongly written as [[User:68.125.34.1|68.125.34.1]]. I'm really sorry - here's what it should be - 68.125.34.1. Sorry for any problems this may have caused you. Trixovator 21:03, 26 January 2007 (UTC)
