May 6, 2008
You Say It's Your Birthday
Robert Brauneis at George Washington University Law School has written a paper on the history of what may be the world’s most oft-infringed piece of music. No, it’s not a Britney Spears ditty or a LimeWire hit. It’s “Happy Birthday,” which was originally written with different lyrics as “Good Morning to All.”
Mr. Brauneis has also created a vast online repository of documents and sound recordings related to legal disputes over the song.—Catherine Rampell
Posted on Tuesday May 6, 2008 | Permalink |Comments
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Funny. The title of the article comes from the only other birthday song to enter Western tradition, written and sung, of course, by The Beatles.
— first marci May 6, 06:38 PM #
Thanks
— health May 7, 05:52 AM #
Not the only other — don’t forget Stevie Wonder’s “Happy Birthday To Ya”! The song celebrates Martin Luther King’s birthday as a national holiday, but the chorus gets a workout on many people’s birthdays.
— reader May 7, 08:53 AM #
brilliant, first marci. i never would have figured that one out. do you not have a job to attend?
— Juliana Jameson-Smythe May 7, 09:45 AM #
Why yes, it was! Thanks!
— George Gollin, University of Illinois May 7, 10:19 AM #
@Marci: That’s exactly what I was thinking.
— Eliot May 7, 10:30 AM #
I think the point of the article is apt. Most music can easily be subject to unintentional copyright infringements.
— Lisa May 7, 01:32 PM #