Sisters Have a Hit, Year In and Year Out

Teachers Mildred J. Hill and Patty Smith Hill must have suspected they had a hit when they wrote “Good Morning to All” for their kindergarten students in 1893. The Louisville sisters had the song copyrighted. Forty-two years later, after Mildred had died, Patty copyrighted new lyrics to the same song and called it “Happy Birthday to You.”

A smart move. Along with “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” and “Auld Lang Syne,” the song has become one of the three most popular songs in the English language, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. In addition, there are versions in Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Malaysian, Swedish and Ewe (an African language), said Alan Dundes, a UC Berkeley anthropology and folklore professor, one of whose students did a master’s thesis on the subject.

The fact that a well-known parody of the song is a staple of American childhood (“Happy birthday to you, you belong in a zoo/You look like a monkey and smell like one too”) offers proof that the ditty has entered American culture to stay, Dundes observed.

Most interesting to the copyright’s owners, anyone who wants to sing or play it for profit, on stage or television, in movies, musical watches or greeting cards must purchase a permit from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) or the Harry Fox Agency in New York City. Nearly 200 licenses a year are issued at costs ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars, said Andrew Manshel, lawyer for Summy-Birchard Music, the publishing division of a small New Jersey music education firm, Birch Tree Group Limited, which now owns the copyright, sharing royalties with a foundation created in 1935 by Patty Hill.

Over the years, the simple tune has grossed millions, Manshel estimated. Today, performance proceeds from “Happy Birthday to You” bring two “low-six-figure” checks each year to Summy-Birchard and the Hill Foundation, said David Sengstack, president of Summy-Birchard. For the small company, the income is “damn significant,” he added.

Neither Hill sister married and both died without offspring. According to Sengstack, the foundation has presumably been operating for charity and/or the benefit of their nephew Archibald Hill, now a retired history professor. Alvin Burnett, the foundation’s lawyer, was unavailable to comment on who receives the royalties.

Not everyone who sings or plays “Happy Birthday to You” has sought permission. In 1935, the Summy Co. (Summy-Birchard’s forerunner) sued the Irving Berlin/Moss Hart production of “As Thousands Cheer,” which included the tune in a scene celebrating John D. Rockefeller’s birthday. Patty Hill and the company settled out of court for a “pittance,” said Sengstack.

Later, they sued Postal Telegraph, which used the song in singing telegrams. It was dropped when company lawyers were stymied by the argument that although the song was used for profit, it was not sung in public, said Sengstack.

Manshel’s mission is to seek out and stop unauthorized performances of “Happy Birthday to You.” He said his firm is still negotiating over a license with Frederick’s of Hollywood, which produced and sold musical underwear that played the birthday song.

Recently, Manshel wanted to chastise Congress for singing the song without permission to President Reagan following his State of the Union message. And restaurant serenades have been a “running sore” for years, said Sengstack, who believes they constitute a public, for-profit performance.

However, he said, “I don’t think we’ll sue anybody anymore. After all, a copyright is a monopoly and you have to behave with reasonableness.”

Since copyrights last 75 years from publication, “Happy Birthday to You” will not pass to the public domain until 2010.