The dispute has rumbled on for two years, but closed on Tuesday, a US federal judge ruled that Warner Music does not hold a valid copyright to the song – and the company was asked to pay $5 million in licensing fees.
The case’s direction changed earlier in the summer with a piece of evidence lawyers arguing against Warner Music say is a “smoking gun”: a songbook from 1922 that includes the Happy Birthday tune and lyrics without any copyright notice. It’s proof, they say, that the song has been in the public domain for decades.
Although Warner filed a motion opposing the request for a judgment based on this new evidence, the plaintiffs were “prepared to argue that Warner knowingly hid the songbook.”
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