If the “Happy Birthday” lyrics had been in the 1893 book, the copyright to the words would’ve lapsed along with copyright to the music in 1949. What happened next was more complex.

The melody has been around since 1893, they say, and the "Happy Birthday to You" lyrics were in wide use by the early 1900s. The plaintiffs hoped to form a class action and make Warner pay back ...

A settlement has been reached in a documentary filmmaker’s class action claim that the lyrics to “Happy Birthday to You” are in the public domain and not under copyright protection.

This book, plaintiffs believe, establishes that “Happy Birthday” lyrics were dedicated to the public years before the copyright registration that Warner/Chappell is relying upon was made.

"Because Summy Co. never acquired the rights to the 'Happy Birthday' lyrics, defendants, as Summy Co.'s purported successors-in-interest, do not own a valid copyright in the Happy Birthday lyrics ...

Because Summy Co. never acquired the rights to the Happy Birthday lyrics,' wrote King, 'defendants, as Summy Co.'s purported successors-in-interest, do not own a valid copyright in the Happy ...

More than two years after a documentary filmmaker challenged the copyright to the simple lyrics of the song "Happy Birthday," a federal judge ruled Tuesday that the copyright is invalid.

“Because Summy Co. never acquired the rights to the ‘Happy Birthday’ lyrics, defendants, as Summy Co.’s purported successors-in-interest, do not own a valid copyright in the Happy Birthday ...

King ruled there wasn’t plausible evidence to suggest that rights to “Happy Birthday” lyrics transferred from Hill to the music publishers. The judge stopped short of declaring the song in ...

"Because Summy Co. never acquired the rights to the 'Happy Birthday' lyrics, defendants, as Summy Co.'s purported successors-in-interest, do not own a valid copyright in the Happy Birthday lyrics ...