Happy Birthday to You

see the resemblance?

I wonder when the tradition of wishing someone a "happy birthday" actually began? I'm 56 years old (as of yesterday) and I remember it from my earliest memory. Of course, the celebration of your birthday is typically accompanied by a song. Other traditions include cake, ice cream, parties, gifts and even the strange ritual of spankings given to you to equal your new age. But let's get back to that song.

Songwriters put a lot of effort into the songs they write and, under US and international law, have the ability to copyright the song...meaning they own the use of the song and are allowed to collect royalties from certain uses of the song by others (you can look up information on US copyright law if you are curious about things like that.)

Did you know that the song "Happy Birthday" is protected by a copyright? Seriously...it is. In 1893 sisters Mildred and Patty Hill wrote the melody and lyrics to a song titled "Good Morning To All" for the teachers in their school to sing to the arriving students. The catchy little ditty morphed into "Good Morning to You" and was actually published in some children's songbooks in the late 1800's. No one knows exactly who wrote the lyrics we know today as "Happy Birthday" but a version titled "Happy Birthday to You" so resembled the Hill sisters' song that they successfully filed suit and ultimately won the copyright to the song we all sing today. In 1935, the music publisher Clayton F. Summy, working with a third sister, Jessica Hill, published and copyrighted "Happy Birthday." Under copyright law in effect at that time, Hills' copyright was good for 28 years and, after another allowed 28 year renewal period, would have maintained the copyright on the song until 1991. The copyright laws were changed in or around 1976, effectively changing the copyright term to 75 years from publication date. Another change to the copyright law in the '90's added another 20 years meaning the song is protected by copyright until 2030.

There are people and organizations out there that actually pay royalties when they use the song under certain circumstances. Today, Warner Music Group owns the rights to the song and  they collect about $2 million in royalties each year. You ever wonder why restaurant wait staff in larger chain restaurants sing their own made-up birthday songs to customers celebrating at their establishment? They don't want to violate copyright law by not paying royalties if/when the "real" song is sung.

For all of you that missed the opportunity to sing Happy Birthday to me yesterday, you can just forgo that and send me $5 rather than pay any royalties to Warner Music for performing the song. When you see me next you can just give me a hug.

Update! After a lawsuit in 2013 claiming that Warner Group's copyright claim was no longer valid, a federal judge ruled in 2015 that the copyright only applied to a specific piano arrangement; not the lyrics and melody. In 2016 Warner paid a settlement of $14 million and the court declared that the song is now in the public domain.