Copyright on 'Happy Birthday' axed

A federal judge in Los Angeles has ruled in favor of a group of plaintiffs who maintained that “Happy Birthday,” written in the 1890s by sisters Patty and Mildred Hill of Louisville, KY, is in the public domain.

The publishing division of Warner Music acquired rights to the song in 1988 and has been collecting an estimated $2 million a year in royalties. A spokesman says the firm is “considering [its] options” following the ruling, the Los Angeles Times’ Christine Mai-Duc reports:

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-how-the-happy-birthday-song-was-set-free-20150923-story.html