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14. “Happy Birthday to You”

The Economics of Everyday Things

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The Hill Sisters' Copyright on Happy Birthday to You

By the late 1990s, Happy Birthday to You was making Warner an estimated $2 million per year in royalties. Jennifer Nelson decided to sue Warner over the copyright on Happy Birthday To You. In 2015, a federal judge ruled that Warner's copyright claim on Happy birthday to You was invalid. And the song was effectively liberated into the public domain.

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