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Arguments Heard in 'Happy Birthday' Copyright Fight
In a court battle involving the song “Happy Birthday to You,” a federal judge was set to decide whether Los Angeles-based music publisher Warner/Chappell has unlawfully been collecting licensing fees for the song's copyright.
Federal District Judge George King of the Central District of California heard more than two hours of arguments last month on whether to declare Warner/Chappell Music Inc.'s copyright invalid and find that “Happy Birthday to You” should be in the public domain. At stake are potentially millions of dollars in licensing fees to what the complaint calls the “world's most popular song.”
The case was brought in 2013 by two New York music producers, a California musician and a film producer who each paid between $455 and $3,000 in licensing fees to Warner/Chappell, the music-publishing arm of Warner Music Group Corp., to perform the song. The class action, filed on behalf of anyone who was forced to pay similar fees starting on June 18, 2009, seeks declaratory relief and the return of “millions of dollars of unlawful licensing fees.” Majar Productions LLC v. Warner/Chappell Music Inc., 2013cv05164.
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