An Old Songbook Could Put ‘Happy Birthday’ in the Public Domain; New York Times, 8/4/15

Ben Sisario, New York Times; An Old Songbook Could Put ‘Happy Birthday’ in the Public Domain:

"Yet “Happy Birthday to You” has long been a prime target for critics of the laws that regulate copyright. Thanks to an extension made under the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 — which was lobbied for heavily by Hollywood — the song remains under protection through 2030.

“The fact that ‘Happy Birthday to You’ is still under copyright is the most symbolic example of how copyright has expanded and overreached beyond its Constitutional purpose,” said Kembrew McLeod, a communications professor at the University of Iowa who has written about the song."