According to Hiskey Daven, the song “Happy Birthday” earns about KES 170 Million every year. It has been copyrighted and is currently owned by Warner Music which was purchased by an investment group.
The song was supposedly created by Mildred J. Hill and Patty Smith Hill, a kindergarten teacher and a principal (who was formerly a teacher) by combining words and tunes derived from different songs that were sang to the tune of “Good morning to all” which goes like this;
Good morning to you
Good morning to you
Good morning, dear children
Good morning to all.
You can listen to the instrumental version here:
According to Daven, the tune itself, with the lyrics “Good Morning to All”, was originally published in a songbook “Song Stories for the Kindergarten”. The tune combined with the lyrics first showed up around 19 years later in a 1912 songbook, without including any credits or copyright notices.
It is thought that the song predates this songbook and perhaps was commonly sung at this time, though no print references have been found before this.
The song was copyrighted by the Clayton F. Summy Musical Publishing Company in collaboration with Jessica Hill (the 3rd sister) in 1935 and the authors that were credited were Mrs. R.R. Forman and Preston Ware Orem. The company was purchased years later by Warner Chappell, a subsidiary of Warner music Group (WMG) in 1990 for US $15 Million who’s inflation adjusted amount is US $26,557,804 and translates to KES 2.25 Billion.
There has been debate that the song should not have been copyrightable because no one could ascertain the author of the words and the tune itself. Similar versions existed in the time period the song are assumed to have been created when the 2 kindergarten teachers used it in their “Good Morning to All” song.
WMG is still the owner of the copyright which has seen many extensions that will see it expire in the year 2030. The music group is producer to – among others – Bee Gees, Janelle Manoe, Cee Lo Green and Frank Sinatra. Revenue has been collected over the years for performance of te “Happy Birthday” song from any film, television show, radio, or public performance.
One can legally sing it without paying if it’s a small family/friends gathering which is not in a public setting. It is for legality’s sake that restaurant employees will not chant the birthday song but instead make their own. The biggest mistake Kenyans can make is to commercialize its performance in 2030 when we achieve our vision.