Ownership of the well-known song "Happy Birthday to You" is under dispute after a company filed a putative class action lawsuit seeking a declaration that the tune is in the public domain and not copyrighted. Good Morning to You Productions is producing a documentarytentatively titled "Happy Birthday"about the ubiquitous ditty, which is apparently about 120 years old.
During production, the company learned that Warner/Chappell Music claimed exclusive copyright ownership of the song. Warner/Chappell allegedly told the company that a license to use it would cost $1,500. Good Morning to You paid up, but not before Warner/Chappell allegedly threatened legal action and penalties of $150,000 under the Copyright Act for use of the song without permission.
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