“There may be no song more widely sung in America than ‘Happy Birthday,’ but it isn’t free to sing. Warner/Chappell music licensing, which has long claimed copyright to the words, typically dings filmmakers and TV producers a few thousand bucks for a ‘synchronization license’ any time the song is used in video. Warner reported that by the 1990s the ‘Happy Birthday’ licensing enterprise was pulling in upwards of $2 million annually.  In June, a filmmaker who paid $1,500 to use the song in a documentary (called ‘Happy Birthday’) challenged Warner/Chappell in court. The plaintiffs hoped to form a class action and make Warner pay back everyone who’s paid a license fee since.”

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/02/happy-birthday-copyright-defense-those-words-and-text-are-ours/

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