Batman happy birthday song lyrics
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United States copyright law states that almost everything published before 1925 is in the public domain by default. note This makes very little sense because the first publication of the lyrics was around 1911. This case of copyright laws run amok was often subject to Lampshade Hanging, which was really all anyone could do, as WMG was expected to hold the rights to the lyrics until 2031 at the earliest. note However, given that only the lyrics were under copyright, another Klingon phrase set to the same tune would be fair game. Even foreign language translations were not exempt - Star Trek writers found out that even showing it in Klingon would cost them. The fact that you could've been sued for realistically portraying an Anglophone birthday party is mind-boggling. This little ditty - based on another melody, sung thousands of times a day around the world, and only containing six words - was subject to legal scrutiny for decades. This is all in stark contrast to the real world, where singing anything other than "Happy Birthday To You" is almost unheard of… except when the singers were the waitstaff of certain chain restaurants, for exactly the same reason as media.
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The copyright specifically applied to the combination of the lyrics and the melody speaking or printing out the lyrics was fine, and so was using the melody if it had different lyrics or was instrumental. To avoid fees and/or lawsuits, productions typically either substituted a public domain folk song - "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" is one example (British shows may use "A Fine Old English Gentleman" instead) - or they just made up their own lyrics, which may or may not use the actual melody.
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As a result, in media prior to 2016, it was rare to hear the actual "Happy Birthday" song. WMG aggressively enforced the copyright, too, which netted them around $2 million per year in royalty fees. note It's worth mentioning that the melody itself comes from "Good Morning to All", a much older song which everyone agrees has been in the public domain for close to a century. Its copyright in the United States and Continental Europe was held by Warner/Chappell Music, a division of Warner Music Group, which had acquired it in 1988 from its takeover of the original holder. note Canada and New Zealand were major exceptions the "Happy Birthday" copyright expired in Canada in 1985 and NZ in 1997. It's the most-recognized song in the English language (and quite possibly the entire world), but before September 22, 2015, the lyrics to "Happy Birthday to You" weren't in the public domain in most countries. Sports Night episode 1x04, " Intellectual Property"