Birthday
Birthday
[Caption above the frame:] xkcd turns 10 years old this month. In light of last night's court ruling in Rupa Marya v. Warner/Chappell Music Inc. , I would just like to say:
[The song text is written, with nine musical notes, three groups on each side of the text, above a birthday cake with 10 lit candles. The cake has two distinct layers. On each layer there are drawn 6 xkcd stick figures with small black bullets between them. The center bullet in the bottom layer is shaped like a heart. The figures at the edges can be difficult to recognize. The figures in the upper layer and from the left are: A man with a hat (hard to see if it is one of the recognized characters), White Hat, Megan, Pony Tail, Hairy and Cueball (hard to see him properly). Similar in the lower layer: Black Hat, Danish, Beret Guy, Rob, Cutie, and a girl (hard to see, but looks like girls hair, not a hat).] Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you Happy birthday, dear xkcd Happy birthday to you

xkcd turns 10 years old on September 30, 2015 (a week after the release of this comic). In this comic Randall honors his webcomic by singing to it the classic " Happy Birthday to You " song.
" Happy Birthday to You " is one of the most commonly sung songs in the English language (and is common in many others). Because of its age, ubiquity and simplicity, it has long surprised people to learn that it was not in the public domain. Warner/Chappell Music claimed the copyright to the lyrics, and has demanded royalties for any recording, publication or public performance for commercial purposes. Total revenues for this song were estimated at US$2 million annually.
This strip refers to a ruling, from the day before the release of this comic, by a federal judge in California ( George King ), stating that the song is not covered by a valid copyright (see Warner's 'Happy Birthday' Copyright Not Valid, Judge Rules ). This ruling resulted from a lawsuit filed by Good Morning To You Productions (singer Rupa Marya and filmmaker Robert Siegel ) against Warner/Chappel Music to declare Warner/Chappel's copyright claim in the song invalid (filing at [1] ). With this ruling, the court declared that Warner/Chappell does not have a copyright claim to the song, and therefore the song can now be sung or published by anyone, in any context, without having to pay royalties to Warner/Chappell.
The ruling does not go so far as to declare the song to be in the public domain, leaving it more correctly defined as an orphan work . Randall seems to be celebrating the fact that this strip, which would have put him at risk for a lawsuit the day before, is now unlikely to be challenged since the odds of a new party appearing and successfully claiming copyright on the lyrics and subsequently demanding license fees is approximately zero.
The title text is a joke that refers to Randall calling the police against Chuck E. Cheese's as well as his own friends and parents when they sang "Happy Birthday" and did not pay royalties. The song is very commonly used in entertainment restaurants, such as Chuck E. Cheese's, and at both grown-ups' and children's birthdays. Because restaurants are commercial enterprises, public performances of the song, prior to this ruling, would potentially have exposed the restaurant to liability claims (though singing it at a private birthday party would not). In either case, calling the police would be an extreme overreaction.
However, many restaurants (for example, Olive Garden ) actually have staff sing a special birthday song (not Happy Birthday To You ) to avoid having to pay royalties.
[Caption above the frame:] xkcd turns 10 years old this month. In light of last night's court ruling in Rupa Marya v. Warner/Chappell Music Inc. , I would just like to say:
[The song text is written, with nine musical notes, three groups on each side of the text, above a birthday cake with 10 lit candles. The cake has two distinct layers. On each layer there are drawn 6 xkcd stick figures with small black bullets between them. The center bullet in the bottom layer is shaped like a heart. The figures at the edges can be difficult to recognize. The figures in the upper layer and from the left are: A man with a hat (hard to see if it is one of the recognized characters), White Hat, Megan, Pony Tail, Hairy and Cueball (hard to see him properly). Similar in the lower layer: Black Hat, Danish, Beret Guy, Rob, Cutie, and a girl (hard to see, but looks like girls hair, not a hat).] Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you Happy birthday, dear xkcd Happy birthday to you
