[78-L] Kookaburra lawsuit

[Cary Ginell]

This is from an article I wrote several years about this for Smart Licensing, a newsletter I edited for Music Reports, Inc.



On
March 4, 1924, one Robert H. Coleman published a collection of songs entitled Harvest
Hymns that included the song Good Morning to You, which featured the
Happy Birthday to You lyrics in the second stanza. The melody was
identical to the one the Hills wrote in 1893, however, there is no credit
listed for either the words or the music, nor is there any copyright notice
listed (Recently, a version of the song published in 1915 has come to light
with similar details.). 

It is the contention of some researchers, most
notably one Bob Katzmarek of Katzmarek Publishing, that the 1935 copyright for Happy
Birthday to You is invalid (he offers “proof” of this for a $35.00 fee.).
Katzmarek’s claim is based on the Coleman collection and a section of the 1909
Copyright Act that states that any song that has been published without a
stated author or copyright notice becomes public domain. Since no notice was
included in Coleman’s publication, this renders Jessica Hill’s 1935 copyright
of Happy Birthday to You invalid as an original composition. 


Cary Ginell

> Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 19:12:23 -0500
> From: jeffsultanof at gmail.com
> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> Subject: Re: [78-L] Kookaburra lawsuit
> 
> There is someone (can't remember his name; he's a lawyer) who is trying hard
> to find a copy of Happy Birthday printed before the Warner-Chappell
> (formerly Summy-Birchard) copyright, which is 1934. This would disprove WBs
> claim on the copyright.
> 
> Jeff Sultanof
> 
> On Sat, Feb 6, 2010 at 3:51 PM, Cary Ginell <soundthink at live.com> wrote:
> 
> >
> > Nope. It's Warner Chappell.
> >
> > Cary Ginell
> >
> > > To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> > > From: dialjazz at verizon.net
> > > Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 14:57:17 -0500
> > > Subject: [78-L]  Kookaburra lawsuit
> > >
> > >
> > > The “Happy Birthday” song may be the most sung and played song on the
> > > planet but collecting royalties must be nearly impossible unless
> > > commercial use is made of the tune and lyrics. Supposedly Schirmer owns
> > > the rights.
> > > _______________________________________________
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> >
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