Happy Birthday, Dear Kerry!
I'm not going to sing the song, because of this:
Ever wondered why some restaurants make up their own silly birthday songs for their staff to sing to patrons? It's so they don't have to pay royalties. Every time you celebrate someone's birthday at a restaurant or other public place, you are technically committing copyright infringement by singing "Happy Birthday to You" to the birthday girl or boy.
The tune was written by sisters Mildred and Patty Hill in 1893, and copyrighted in 1934 by their sister Jessica. Although the original copyright would have expired in 1991, two intervening acts of Congress have extended it through at least 2030. The song earns about $2 million per year in royalties -- and would probably make a lot more if The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) had a representative enforcing the copyright at restaurants.
Have a good birthday, anyway, Kerry! ♥ your Kentucky-livin', horse-lovin' guts!
5 comments:
What interesting facts about the birthday song. I knew it was because of a copyright, but I never knew the "rest of the story"... Thanks KK.
i'm singing it right now!!!
Aw thanks Kaelene!!!
I wish you could fedex mexican food too. Even without cilantro!!! But it's the thought that counts right?? Could you think about sending me some new furniture too? Haha!
I tagged you....I need you to email me your phone number so I can call you. Yes, let's try and get together. I want to meet Jorge. Brett and I are celebrating our 15th anniversary on Thursday (can you believe it??) so we'll try to go out this weekend. Maybe next weekend we can try to get together? What do you think?
HA HA H AHaaaaaaaaaaa HAHAHAHAH! That picture is soo so sooooooooooo awesome. I love it. What a great gift :D
Happy b-day K-dawg.
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