Manuscript of song that inspired Happy Birthday To You found

Sheet music for the song Good Morning To All seen in a photo provided by the University of Louisville. The melody is now sung with the familiar tribute, Happy Birthday To You.
Sheet music for the song Good Morning To All seen in a photo provided by the University of Louisville. The melody is now sung with the familiar tribute, Happy Birthday To You. PHOTO: REUTERS

NEW YORK • A college librarian in Kentucky has found the 19th-century manuscript of a musical number that gave rise to one of the most widely performed songs in the world, Happy Birthday To You, University of Louisville officials said on Monday.

The discovery will likely intensify interest in a high-profile United States court case over whether Warner Music Group has a valid copyright to the Happy Birthday song and can continue to reap from it an estimated US$2 million (S$2.8 million) in royalties every year.

The university said its library director, Mr James Procell, recently found the only known manuscript of Good Morning To All, a melody that the public eventually began to sing with the familiar tribute, Happy Birthday To You.

The document was found in a sketch book belonging to Louisville native Mildred Hill, who wrote the Good Morning song with her sister Patty, a kindergarten teacher, and published it in a children's songbook in 1893.

The manuscript and other papers were donated to the library in the 1950s by a friend of the Hill sisters, but were not catalogued. They remained hidden in its archives for decades.

The university made no mention of a copyright notice on the manuscript and its first page is missing. It is unlikely to have a direct impact on the federal lawsuit, filed by a group of artists who argue that the song has been copyright-free for decades, said their lawyer, Mr Mark Rifkin.

The artists, a musician and three film-makers filed their putative class action against Warner in 2013 seeking a return of the fees the group has collected over the years for use of the song, mostly in television and film.

Warner's copyright in the song originates with the Clayton F. Summy Co, later known as Birch Tree and acquired by Warner. Summy had obtained registrations to Happy Birthday To You in 1935, according to court papers.

US district judge George King in Los Angeles is mulling over the arguments made by both sides.

The artists recently told him they found a "smoking gun" in the form of an old songbook that they say legally proves the copyright is no longer valid. Warner disputes that claim. A spokesman for the group could not immediately be reached for comment.

Mr Procell plans to digitise and catalogue Hill's papers and a concert of her music is planned for next year, a century after her death, the university said. REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 02, 2015, with the headline Manuscript of song that inspired Happy Birthday To You found. Subscribe