Who does own the publishing rights to "Happy Birthday to You"?
They were acquired by a New York accountant named John F. Sengstack when he bought the Clayton F. Summy Company in the 1930s; Sengstack eventually relocated the company to New Jersey and renamed it Birch Tree Ltd. in the 1970s. Warner Chappell (a Warner Communications division), the largest music publisher in the world, purchased Birch Tree Ltd. in late 1998 for a reported sale price of $25 million; the company then became Summy-Birchard Music, now a part of the giant AOL Time Warner media conglomerate.
Snopes.com
This all makes me wonder what other common cultural items are actually owned by some entity or another. Is "He's a Jolly Good Fellow" protected? "Amazing Grace"?
1 comment:
Little know fact:
The rights to "Auld lang syne" were purchased by entrepreneur Cary Williams in early 2005. This new media magnate has offered the generous rate of $5,000 per commercial or otherwise public performance of this song. Mr. Williams has been quoted to say, "I expect this acquisition to have significant returns, with revenue ramping up in the coming Holiday season".
All royalty checks should be sent to: 1323 Noe Street, San Francisco, CA 94131.
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