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A comment on Lawsuit Filed to Prove Happy Birthday Is in the Public Domain (2013).

Re:Lawsuit Filed to Prove Happy Birthday Is in the Public Do... by dbbolton on Sunday July 27, 2014 @02:16PM (#8093469)
What disturbs me somewhat about this copyright, besides its age and that is contrary to the basic underlying ideas of copyright, is the fact that the people who originally registered it did not compose the song, and the people who ostensibly did compose it did so as a derivative work (they changed the lyrics, which in a song of 7 words isn't a very substantial creative contribution). It probably never should have been copyrightable in the first place.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Birthday_to_You

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Re:Lawsuit Filed to Prove Happy Birthday Is in the Public Do... by bediger4000 on Sunday July 27, 2014 @02:25PM (#8093500)
And yet millions of dollars of steady revenue derive from this copyright. It just goes to show you that Copyright Works! No, wait, it goes to show you that copyright protects incumbents, and probably doesn't really encourage innovation. It certainly doesn't increase the public domain, as currently constituted.
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