With less than a week to go before a trial, a class-action lawsuit over the copyright status of "Happy Birthday" has been resolved. Details of the settlement, including what kind of uses will be allowed going forward, are not clear.
A short order (PDF) filed yesterday by US Chief District Court Judge George King says that all parties have agreed to a settlement, and it vacates a trial which was scheduled to start on December 15. The key turning point came in September, when King ruled that Warner/Chappell's copyright transfer was invalid because there was no proof it was ever properly transferred from the Hill sisters, who claimed to have written the song.
The trial would have addressed damages issues. Also looming was a late copyright claim by Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI), a children's' charity affiliated with the Hill sisters. ACEI came forward in November to say that if Warner/Chappell didn't own the song, it did. The settlement revealed yesterday resolves all claims by the plaintiffs, Warner/Chappell, and ACEI.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2013 by Jennifer Nelson, a filmmaker who made a documentary about the song. Nelson was joined by other named plaintiffs who paid money over the years to music publisher Warner/Chappell, which claimed the copyright to the song and typically charged a few thousand dollars for broadcast uses of it.
"The only statement I can make is that the settlement resolves all issues in the case," Randall Newman, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, told Ars via e-mail. He said more details will be available shortly.
"While we respectfully disagreed with the Court's decision, we are pleased to have now resolved this matter," a Warner/Chappell spokesperson said.
Ars will report the details of the settlement when they are available.
reader comments
99