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Songfacts:  You can leave comments about the song at the bottom of the page.

This was written by 2 sisters from Kentucky, Mildred Hill and Patty Hill. They both taught nursery school or kindergarten. Patty invented the "Patty Hill blocks" used in schools nationwide, and served on the faculty of the Columbia University Teachers College for thirty years. Mildred, who was the older sister, studied music and became an expert on Negro spirituals. In 1893, while Mildred was teaching at the Louisville Experimental Kindergarten School where her sister served as principal, she came up with the melody to this song. Patty added some lyrics and it became a song called "Good Morning to All," which was a way for teachers to greet students. Here are the original lyrics:
Good morning to you
Good morning to you
Good morning, dear children
Good morning to all.
Later in 1893, the song was published in the songbook Song Stories For The Kindergarten, and other schools started singing it. After a while, it became more popular for kids to sing it to teachers, and the song became commonly known as "Good Morning To You," since the third line could be changed to fit the subject.

It's unclear who wrote the words "Happy Birthday To You," but the lyrics first appeared in a songbook in 1924, where they were published as a second stanza to "Good Morning to You." Various movies and radio shows started using the song as a birthday greeting, and "Good Morning To You" morphed into "Happy Birthday To You." It was used in the 1931 Broadway musical The Band Wagon and was part of Western Union's first "singing telegram" in 1933. It was also used in the Irving Berlin musical As Thousands Cheer. The Hill sisters were not compensated for use of "Happy Birthday To You," so their other sister Jessica filed suit to prove that "Happy Birthday To You" was their song with different lyrics. The court agreed and gave the Hill sisters the copyright to "Happy Birthday To You" in 1934, which meant that anytime it was used in a movie, radio program, or other performance, the Mildred and Patty Hill were compensated. (In the case of Mildred, her estate was compensated, since she died in 1916.)

The Clayton F. Summy Company, working with Jessica Hill, published and copyrighted "Happy Birthday" in 1935. Under the laws in effect at the time, the Hills' copyright would have expired after one 28-year term and a renewal of similar length, falling into public domain by 1991. However, the Copyright Act of 1976 extended the term of copyright protection to 75 years from date of publication, and the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 added another 20 years, so under current law the copyright protection of "Happy Birthday" will remain intact until at least 2030.

Warner Chappell, the largest music publishing company in the world, got the rights to this when they bought what was The Clayton F. Summy Company in 1998 for a reported price of $25 million. They spun off the company as Summy-Birchard Music, which is now a part of AOL Time Warner. The song brings in about $2 million in royalties every year, with the proceeds split between Summy-Birchard and the Hill Foundation. Both Hill sisters died unmarried and childless, so their share of the royalties have presumably been going to charity or to nephew Archibald Hill ever since Patty Hill passed away in 1946.

If you sing this at a birthday party, you do not have to pay royalties, but anytime it is performed in public in front of a large gathering of people (like at a concert), a small performance license is required. This is normally issued in the US by 3 companies - ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. The Hill Foundation is a member of ASCAP. Companies that are required by law to have small performance licenses operate Radio Stations, TV Stations, Concert Venues, Restaurants and other Retail outlets over a certain square footage.

In a 1989 Time Magazine article, this was one of the 3 most popular songs in the English language, along with "Auld Lang Syne" and "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow." (thanks, Jimmy - Bronxville, NY)

It was rumored that Paul McCartney owned the rights to this. McCartney bought the publishing rights to a lot of songs (including most of Buddy Holly's), but he does not own this one.

Comments:

You know what I don't understand? I don't understand why this song is still copyrighted. I can't believe it! Why would a song like this still be copyrighted, when in fact it's over 100 years old? Songs like this that are over 100 years old, and even older, should at least be in the public domain. I mean, look at some of the classical symphonies that were written in the 1600's. You don't see copyright trademarks on those pieces of music nowadays, do you?
- Annabelle, Eugene, OR

Happy Birthday to You is the B-side of A Very Merry Unbirthday to You, the song from Disney's Alice in Wonderland
- Lester, New York City, NY

hello retards!!!
- Mike, petersham, MA

This would mean that royalties were paid to the Hill estate when Marilyn Monroe sang her sultry "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" for Jack Kennedy in May of '62. Marilyn herself paid $1000 to get into that event.
- Ekristheh, Halath, United States

They don't have a right to your celebration. You don't have to get copyrighted permission to throw a party for someone's birthday, or to sing the song to tha person individually, or as a small group. You do have to have permission, however, if you're going to perform the song at a large concert, or any event where you made a profit for one reason or the other, and that song was part of the profit. It's like singing any other song. If you sing a Simon & Garfunkel song to your child as a lullabye, it's not copyright infringement. But, if you record the song on a CD and sell it, without their permission, it is. It's just a song that celebrates an event that occurs in everyone's life. Singing that song privately is just as safe as singing a Christmas carol privately, or like I mentioned before, singing a Simon & Garfunkel song privately.
- Patrick, Tallapoosa, GA

Paul McCartney may own a lot of songs, but he doesn't own any of the Beatles songs... Michael Jackson does.
- Fremont, Concord, NH

lol kinda funny seeing this song on this site. but it's sweet lol every's gotta love this song!
- Corrie, Calgary, Canada

the song makes me embarressed but it is happy and joyus.
- Tom, Boston, MA

everyone has a birthday and hopefully they are all happy. how rediculous that someone has the rights to someones birthday celebrations
- Maureen Gallagher, belfast, Ireland

Actually, Coleman only wrote the lyrics. The tune was written by a pair of kindergarten teachers in the late 1800s or early 1900s and was called "Good Morning To You". Their family still owns the rights to the tune.
- Matt, Saugus, MA