Resumen de United States: : Happy Birthday everyone!
Two U.S. District Courts have recently issued rulings on copyright disputes over famous lyrics, that have expanded the scope of what is considered to be in the public domain.
On 23 September 2015 a U.S. District Court in California issued a ruling that the lyrics to the famous 80-year-old song "Happy Birthday to You" are not copyrightable, rejecting the claim by Warner/Chappell Music ("Warner") that it owns the copyright to the lyrics. The plaintiffs, a group of filmmakers who are producing a documentary about the song, sued Warner, challenging Warner's right to collect royalties for using the song, which by some estimates has amounted to over USD 2 million a year. The Court ruled that no evidence existed that the original company that asserted a copyright claim over the song ever legally obtained the rights to the "Happy Birthday To You" song from whomever wrote it. The ruling means that the song is now considered a public work and is free for everyone to use.
