The details of a settlement over Warner Music Group’s longstanding claims to owning the copyright to “Happy Birthday To You” were revealed on Tuesday. The music publisher agreed to pay $14 million after a judge declared in 2015 that the company didn’t own the copyright to the song.
Back in December, Warner Music’s Warner/Chappell subsidiary reached a settlement before the case was set to go to trial. Warner’s claims to copyright came in question when a documentary filmmaker sued the publisher in 2013, asking a judge to declare the song in the public domain. Other plaintiffs included a group of artists.
After the settlement was reached, Warner agreed not to file any appeals. Details of the settlement stayed confidential until this week, notes The New York Times.
Warner agreed to pay $14 million to “thousands” of artists and entities that had been forced to pay licensing fees to use the song, dating back to 1949. The plaintiffs will also receive $4.6 million to pay legal fees.
“Happy Birthday To You” is considered the most popular song in the world and was written by Mildred Hill and her sister Patty. It was first published with different lyrics in 1893.
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