As if you couldn't find a billion other reasons to hate the record industry, here is the....icing on the cake...pun intended.
In my opinion there is no other song in history that should be public domain more than Happy Birthday. Can you remember the last time you heard this song on TV or in a movie? Probably not, and that's because Warner Chappel "owns" the rights to that song and will sue your ass for using it. So how does a company like this get away with owning a song that is well over 100 years old and clearly should be public domain? Who knows, legal loopholes, evil lawyers, take you pick. Maybe they do have some sort of legal ownership over it, but is it really ethical? Did I just mention ethics pertaining to the music industry?
The real issue is going to be how hard they push other sources using the song. If a little kid sings it on youtube to send to their grandmother as a link can they be slapped with a lawsuit? We are walking a fine line here and the results of the lawsuit mentioned in this article will be very telling and interesting. I for one will do all i can to make sure I don't give Warner any of my business or money based on my own ethics.