Happy Birthday song will enter public domain

Happy Birthday to You is definitely a song you've heard once or twice in your life, but did you know that if you want to record it or use it in a movie you have to pay?

Warner music bought the company which owned the rights to the song in 1988, with the original attributed to Patty Hill and Mildred J Hill all the way back in 1893. Some impressive lawyering kept meant that the copyright for use of the song is owned until 2030 but an ongoing court case has put that in doubt.

The gist is that Warner will be paid a $14 million settlement, releasing Happy Birthday to You into the public domain when the copyright ends. That means anyone will able to use this massively popular song wherever they like, even in commerical properties. It's a complicated legal issue and one which might have happened at the best possible time for Warners, which could potentially have been forced to repay license fees.