The Traditional “Happy Birthday” Song Is Finally Free To Use

A court in Los Angeles has ruled that “Happy Birthday To You” is now in the public domain, meaning that Warner/Chappell Music will no longer collect royalties from the song. A US district judge reached the landmark verdict, ruling that the copyright filed by the Clayton F Summy Co back in 1935 applied to a particular arrangement of the song, not the song itself. The lawsuit was initially filed in 2013 after documentary filmmaker Jennifer Nelson was told she had to pay $1,500 to use “Happy Birthday To You”.