X-Git-Url: https://projects.mako.cc/source/unhappybirthday/blobdiff_plain/5a1090470b0cf633ffb51e9d50939fc3b642beee..9dc2a26235e31f8501b27a1e172b468e2dddb58e:/index.html diff --git a/index.html b/index.html index 91613a8..4c25bc9 100644 --- a/index.html +++ b/index.html @@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ currently owned and actively enforced by Time Warner?

...or among a substantial number of people who are not family or friends
You are involved in a public performance of that work?

-

Did you know an unauthorized public performance is a form of +

Did you know an unauthorized public performance is often a form of copyright infringement?

@@ -74,8 +74,8 @@ copyright status, check out these resources:

  • Snopes' article on the legal status of Happy Birthday
  • -
  • Boycott-RIAA's -article on Happy Birthday and copyright
  • +
  • Great +article on Happy Birthday and copyright by Kembrew McLeod
  • Kuro5hin's @@ -84,6 +84,16 @@ hear.
  • +

    Update: This +article by law professor Robert Brauneis has raised some important +questions about the history of Happy Birthday. That said, copyright in +the song continues to be enforced and Warner Brothers continues to +collect more than $2 million each year in royalties. Until we hear a +judge rule on Brauneis's suggestions, we'll continue to give Warner and +the market the benefit of the doubt.

    + +

    Is Singing Happy Birthday in Public Really Copyright Infringement?

    @@ -100,11 +110,20 @@ or display it at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered."

    -

    This means that if you sing Happy Birthday to your family at -home, you're probably not committing copyright infringment. However, if you -do it in an restaurant — and if the restaurant hasn't already worked -out a deal with ASCAP — you may be engaging in copyright -infringement.

    +

    Additionally, United States Code Title 17, §110(4) states that +singing the song among a group of people "without any direct or indirect +commercial advantage" will not constitute infringement either. But keep +in mind: "indirect commercial advantage" is very broad. Courts have +found that restaurants, camps, and other venues benefit indirectly from +performances of songs like Happy Birthday. Unless the song has been +licensed in these situations, it's infringement.

    + + +

    This means that if you sing Happy Birthday to your +family at home, you're probably not committing copyright infringment. +However, if you do it in an restaurant — and if the restaurant +hasn't already worked out a deal with ASCAP — you may be engaging +in copyright infringement.

    How Can I Help Stop Infringement?

    @@ -157,18 +176,17 @@ New York, NY 10019-8016

    -

    If you're going send a message, here's a sample letter. (Before -sending such a letter, please be sure that the venue where you saw -Happy Birthday performed is not ASCAP-licensed, as some -restaurants, nightclubs, etc., do have blanket ASCAP catalogue licenses -that might exempt patrons from copyright liability for singing during -dinner.) You'll want to modify yours to include correct details on the +

    If you're going to send a message, here's a sample letter. (Before +sending such a letter, you should know that some restaurants, +nightclubs, etc., pay for blanket ASCAP catalogue licenses that might +exempt patrons from copyright liability for singing during dinner.) +You'll want to modify yours to include correct details on the infringement:

    Dear ASCAP,
     
    -The copyright status of "Happy Birthday To You" and and the law
    +The copyright status of "Happy Birthday To You" and the law
     related to public performances of copyrighted works have recently been
     brought to my attention. I am very concerned by the public's apparent
     disregard for copyright law demonstrated by rampant infringement of
    @@ -213,9 +231,9 @@ Birthday.

    href="http://www.cafepress.com/unhappybirthday">official Unhappy Birthday store.

    -

    You can get in contact with our leadership by emailing our -copyrighteous spokesman — Benjamin Mako Hill — at mako@atdot.cc

    +

    Our president is Raymond Ty. You can get in contact with our +leadership by emailing our copyrighteous spokesman — Benjamin Mako +Hill — at mako@atdot.cc