Re: Happy Birthday!

On 15 September, 1997, Mark Lemley <mlemley[_at_]mail.law.utexas.edu> wrote:
>
> On 9/12/97, Lincoln Richman <lrichman[_at_]aaas.org> wrote:
> >
> > I've been a lurker on this list for some time and finally have a
> > question which I'm not sure has ever been addressed.
> >
> > Recently, my wife and I went to dinner at a very popular national chain
> > restaurant. As part of the restaurant's regular shtick, if a guest is
> > celebrating a birthday, all of the waiters and waitresses gather around
> > the celebrant and sing the "Happy Birthday" song ('Happy Birthday to
> > you, Happy Birthday to you,' etc.).
> >
> > If I remember hearing correctly, this song is actually copyrighted (I
> > always figured it was American-folkloric and therefore in the public
> > domain, but I've been told otherwise).
> >
> > So, here's my question: Is the restaurant chain (we've heard the song
> > sung at several of their locations) violating copyright law by singing
> > the "Happy Birthday" song?
> >
> ***************
>
> Anybody know whether the owners of "Happy Birthday" are ASCAP or BMI
> members? If so, a general license from those entities would probably
> cover the singing. [Many, though not all restaurants, have such a
> license].

Happy Birthday is an ASCAP song

Jaime R. Angeles
Santo Domingo
Dominican Republic
Fax (809) 533-3215
<j.angeles[_at_]codetel.net.do> Received on Thu Sep 18 1997 - 01:37:38 GMT