Did You Know ? Happy Birthday to You Song is Copyrighted!!!!

We have all sung this song at least once in our lives to someone. It has probably been sung to you, too. The "Happy Birthday to You" song is copyrighted. If used in the public there must be royalties paid.

History

In the mid-nineteenth century, two kindergarten schoolteachers in Louisville, KY made up a song called "Good Morning to all." The lyrics and tune were very simple. In 1893, they published the tune in their songbook called "Song Stories for the Kindergarten". Their students loved the song so much that they adapted it to birthday parties. In later years, the song "Happy Birthday to You" was published in many written works including a hymnbook for churches. It was in 1935 that the actually song that we use today was copyrighted.

Today

To this day, the Warner Music Company states that it deserves royalties. The song is estimated to be worth over five million dollars by now. However, this copyright does expire in 2030.

Many people, including myself, question the copyright. Since the first version of "Happy Birthday to You" was actually adopted by five and six year olds can they really copyright it later. According to the Warner Company, any restaurant, film or a large gathering that does not include mostly friends or family that includes singing "Happy Birthday to You" must pay royalties. Warner Company charges about $10,000 for the song to appear in a film. Because of this high cost, most films will not show the song being song in its entirety. Sometimes the singing of "Happy Birthday" is avoided but implied. In one documentary about Martin Luther King, Jr that was made in 1987, the copyright was enforced and the film could not be released until 2008.

This is just plain absurd. However, it does go to show you that anything and everything needs to be copyrighted. This shows the lasting influence that one class of young children and a couple of creative teachers can have. Therefore, if you are a teacher make sure to write things down. Many teachers come up their own version of songs for their students. Sometimes the simplest song will last over one hundred years.

So Next Time Be Careful Where You Sing This Song..... LoL......

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Birthday_to_You#Copyright_issues_and_public_performances

New Symbol For Rupee

India has finally got a symbol for the Rupee and joined a select club of countries whose  currencies have an unique identity.

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the design, which includes both the Devnagiri 'Ra' and the Roman capital 'R' and has two parallel lines running at the top. The parallel lines symbolise the equal to sign.

"With this India will join an elite group of countries which have a distinct currency symbol. It denotes the robustness of Indian economy. I will now hold up the design that was finally selected. This was sent in by Udaya Kumar," said Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ambika Soni in New Delhi.

She said that the Rupee symbol was a nice blend of modernity and Indian culture.

The symbol selected has been designed by an IIT postgraduate D Udaya Kumar and was selected from among five short listed symbols. Kumar, who is with the Department of Design at IIT Guwahati, explained thatthe design is based on the Indian Tricolour.

"My design is based on the Tricolour with two lines at the top and white space in between. I wanted the symbol for the Rupee to represent the Indian flag. It is a perfect blend of Indian and Roman letters: a capital 'R', and Devnagari 'Ra', which represent rupiya, to appeal to international and Indian audiences. After working onthe design for few months, I shortlisted eight to 10 designs and then refined them further till I got this one," said Kumar.

All new notes will now bear the symbol.

source:www.moneycontrol.com