Thursday, December 16, 2004
Reason #4 to ignore copyright
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear [insert name]
Happy Birthday to you!
There. I just infringed the copyright of AOL-Time Warner, who owns the Happy Birthday song. That's right. Happy Birthday, the best known song in the English language, is under copyright.
Now this doesn't mean that the copyright cops are going bust in on your family party. You're probably safe. But contrary to popular belief, there is nothing in copyright law that says "yes, go ahead and use that song at home for personal use. That's legal." It just means that you are likely to get away with the infringement because:
- The copyright holder will remain blissfully unaware of your infringement.
- If the copyright holder knows about your specific instance of infringement he will have trouble proving it in a court of law or...
- Copyright holder knows that it is likely that the judge in such a case would rule it "Fair Use".
There are probably more reasons, but my point is really the fact that you are a copyright infringer if you use the song "Happy Birthday" without permission from AOL-Time Warner.
There is some great articles about the copyright statusof "Happy Birthday" at snopes (warning! Popups!) and on this page here.
Comments:
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Hey Scott. I can't say that I've been scorned personally by "copyright cops". I first began researching copyright during the Napster heyday. I was tired of being labeled a thief when I was convinced that there was nothing (legally or morally) wrong with downloading free music. My first discovery was that I was wrong about the legal part. My next discovery was that everything I thought I knew about copyright was wrong. I gradually learned about the extreme imbalances that exist in the current system. Lawyers are the ones that control creativity now. Everything about that seems wrong to me.
Everyone has been "scorned" by current copyright law. Most people just don't know enough to be outraged.
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Everyone has been "scorned" by current copyright law. Most people just don't know enough to be outraged.
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