Lawyers who won Happy Birthday copyright case sue over “We Shall Overcome”

[afarrell]

I am generally a fan of international trade. It is the force that has lifted billions of people out of extreme poverty.

I also believe it makes sense to have international IP protection to the degree that The IP metaphor actually promotes useful arts and sciences. But I am really displeased with the fact that the TPP makes the 70-year copyright term a (likely permanent) fixture of international law.

You can find the full text here: https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/tran...

The offending language is Article 18.63 within the Intellectual Property section.

[bufordsharkley]

I don't know if it's fair to blame the TPP-- it seems that everybody everywhere was independently converging upon this. The EU, for instance, moved from 50-year copyright terms to 70-year in 2011.[1]

It's yet another case of a motivated special interest.

[1] http://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/sep/12/musicians-copyr...

[pessimizer]

How does protectionism lift people out of extreme poverty? I thought the consensus was that it was the lowering of tariffs that gradually did that, not the creation of new ones.

[informer2]

Stupid apologetic attempt of first world rulers.

[cookiemonsta]

Why don't people want copyright? Say you wrote a book. Why should other companies/other people be able to copy it just because a certain number of years has passed?

[Overtonwindow]

This is just another example of the disastrous copyright system in America. The whole thing needs overhaul. I hope there's a flood of similar lawsuits to constantly remind politicians of the idiocy of their resistance to reform.

[wiseleo]

Ah, so this is good news.

Headline should be adjusted to indicate that Happy Birthday became public domain thanks to their work.

[jrs235]

From my understanding, Happy Birthday isn't necessarily public domain, but rather the true owner's are unknown at this time until someone can come forward and claim ownership, and defend ownership in court. But it sounds like it will be very difficult for someone to successfully do and therefore, Happy Birthday is possibly public domain.

[pessimizer]

Cool - at this rate, 3498 years from now, I'll be able to sing songs that I've sung from the time I could speak in front of people without paying the great-grandchildren of someone who stole the copyright of somebody who learned the song from somebody he met busking, then eventually died in poverty 80 years ago, having been paid $25.

[nxzero]

Amazing that people paid over $14 million in royalties to sing Happy Birthday; wow, utter madness!!

[rvense]

I hope there's a big gathering in front of the courthouse when this goes to trial. With singing.

[jessaustin]

I hope that if he had it to do over, Pete Seeger would not copyright a centuries-old song of oppressed people. We should all think about the long-term results of temporarily convenient actions.

[jaekwon]

There's a real Pirate Party moment happening in Iceland now. And judging by the tone here, the time seems right for a change.

https://twitter.com/Kopimism/status/721150098453897216

[ChrisDutrow]

I'm curious why their request to use the song was denied.

[snurk]

The title is unnecessarily inflammatory. In the US, lawyers do not sue anyone. They're not allowed to. They represent clients.

Maybe the situation is that the putative copyright holders of We Shall Overcome hired the same successful legal team from the Happy Birthday case — a very rational thing to do.

[ommunist]

Bastards should be lynched. Authors of the song created it to be sung.

[jane_is_here]

Songwriter chasers are the new ambulance chasers.

[dominotw]

Sick of hearing these stupid 'songs' anyway. good riddance.

[quadrangle]

Happy Birthday is a trite stupid song. We Shall Overcome is a beautiful, inspiring, and musically rich anthem. The only thing they have in common is being old cultural heritage that assholes have illegally and immorally cashed-in on.