第1838期:Happy Birthday ruled out of copyright

Happy Birthday To You is the most recognised song in the English language. The melody was composed by two sisters in Kentucky in 1893. Their song evolved into Happy Birthday and was first copyrighted by the Summy Company in 1935. Warner/Chappell bought the rights in 1988 and has been receiving around $2m in royalties a year ever since.

祝你生日快乐是英语中最受认可的歌曲。 这首旋律由肯塔基州的两姐妹于 1893 年创作。她们的歌曲后来演变成《生日快乐》，并于 1935 年首次获得 Summy 公司的版权。Warner/Chappell 于 1988 年购买了版权，此后每年收到约 200 万美元的版税 .

Two filmmakers planning a documentary about the song brought the legal challenge when Warner/Chappell demanded a fee for its use. They argued as the song was in the public domain, it shouldn't be subject to fees. A judge has now ruled that the Summy Company only ever acquired copyright to the melody, and not the lyrics, and as such, Warner/Chappell don't own the rights.

当 Warner/Chappell 要求对这首歌的使用收费时，两位电影制作人计划制作一部关于这首歌的纪录片，这带来了法律挑战。 他们争辩说，由于这首歌属于公共领域，因此不应收取费用。 一名法官现已裁定，Summy 公司仅获得了旋律的版权，而不是歌词，因此，Warner/Chappell 不拥有这些权利。

词汇表

recognised 被识别出的
royalties 版权费
documentary 纪录片
brought the legal challenge （就版权问题向法庭）提出法律疑问
in the public domain 属于公众所有，不受版权保护
melody 歌曲
lyrics 歌词