Fights over the Happy Birthday song

Everyone knows the song «Happy Birthday». But few have heard of the legal wrangles that surround it. It all started so well, with a children's song that was written by two US American sisters. The tune was written in 1883 by educator Mildred Hill, the text by her sister Patty, who was also the head of a kindergarten. At the time, it was a welcome song because the lyrics were: «Good Morning to All».

It turned out later that there were also songs from earlier years with similar words, such as «Happy Greetings to All» and «A Happy New Year to You All». However, the kindergarten pupils loved the Hill sisters' version, sang «Good Morning to All» and changed the lyrics spontaneously on birthdays only, when they sang «Happy Birthday to You». Later on, a music publisher protected the Happy Birthday version by copyright and prohibited all public singing of the song on TV, in films, on the radio, in public buildings and even in large groups unless they paid a fee.

Fortunately, a judge recalled that the lyrics were by the kindergarten and the melody by Mildred Hall, and cancelled the copyright in 2015. The song now exists in 18 languages.