The song, Happy Birthday to You, is often considered the most recognised song in the English language (how one would verify this, I don’t know). The song is copyrighted by Warner/Chappell Music Inc, a division of the Warner Music Group, who have been known to ask anywhere from 1,500 to 10,000 USD for the use of the song. However, all this might soon change.
A new law suit has been filed earlier this month by Jennifer Nelson, a New York filmmaker, claiming that the song is public domain. The law suit also demands that Warner Music Group pay back the millions of dollars they have received in royalties and licensing fees from the song.
Happy Birthday to You, is actually an adaptation from the song Good Morning Dear Children, written by Patty and Mildred J. Hill in 1893. The songs share the same melody, but the lyrics are very different. The law suit claims that there is evidence to suggest that the song was actually copyrighted by a school in the State of Indiana in 1901 (ending no later than 1921), and that the copyright Warner/Chappell Music Inc owns is narrowly limited to a specific piano arrangement of the song published in 1935.
Sources:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/jun/14/happy-birthday-lawsuit-copyright-warner
http://www.theverge.com/2013/6/14/4429412/happy-birthday-lawsuit-demands-warner-music-pay-back-royalites
http://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawoollacott/2013/06/14/class-action-suit-aims-to-strip-warner-of-happy-birthday-copyright/
