pbsarts:

Should Happy Birthday be Protected by Copyright?

You know how chain restaurants always sing some weird unknown birthday tune, instead of the actual Happy Birthday song we know and love? It’s because “Happy Birthday To You” is protected by COPYRIGHT!!!! They are legally not allowed to sing it in public, and neither are you. Copyright was originally created for two reasons: to protect the original creators so they could benefit from their work AND have creative works enter the Public Domain. Unfortunately, the whole system has gotten out of whack with copyright extensions that extend far beyond the life of the creator. The current holder of the Happy Birthday copyright is the Warner Music Group and the original creators of the song stopped having birthdays a long time ago because they’re dead. It makes you wonder if copyright law hasn’t deviated a bit from it’s original intentions. Or maybe you just shouldn’t celebrate your birthday in a Red Lobster.

Let us know what sorts of crazy ideas you have, about this episode and otherwise:
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Hosted by Mike Rugnetta (@mikerugnetta)
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197 Notes/ Hide

  1. yourestilllostlittlegirl reblogged this from laughingsquid
  2. popeanon reblogged this from laughingsquid and added:
    ROBERT BRAUNEIS has an excellent collection of docs on this subject.
  3. madladyrandom reblogged this from pbsarts
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  10. thosch66 reblogged this from laughingsquid and added:
    also nur nicht unbedacht Happy Birthday singen.
  11. pdc reblogged this from laughingsquid and added:
    I am told that singing Happy Birthday to a friend is OK in the UK restaurants so long as they are signed up the PRS …
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  14. artspulse reblogged this from laughingsquid and added:
    Man, I love this show.
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