Tag Archives: Happy
‘Happy Birthday to You’ belongs to us all, lawsuit says
NEW YORK |
NEW YORK (Reuters) – “Happy Birthday to You,” the ditty sung around the world in tribute to everyone from toddlers to centenarians, belongs to the public, according to a lawsuit filed on Thursday.
The proposed class action asks a federal court to declare the song to be in the public domain and that Warner/Chappel Music Inc, the music publishing arm of Warner Music Group, return “millions of dollars of unlawful licensing fees” it has collected for reproductions and public performances of the song.
“More than 120 years after the melody to which the simple lyrics of ‘Happy Birthday to You’ is set was first published, defendant Warner/Chappell boldly, but wrongfully and unlawfully, insists that it owns the copyright to ‘Happy Birthday to You,’” the lawsuit said.
A representative of Warner/Chappell was not immediately available to comment on the lawsuit.
The plaintiff is Good Morning To You Productions Corp, a New York company that says it is making a documentary about the song. Facing a penalty of $ 150,000 if it used “Happy Birthday” without permission, the company said it paid a $ 1,500 licensing fee in March.
Warner/Chappell has collected at least $ 2 million annually in licensing fees for the song, according to the lawsuit.
The song was first published in 1893 as “Good Morning to All,” and was written by sisters Patty and Mildred Hill, according to the lawsuit. The public began singing the words to “Happy Birthday to You” soon after.
Warner/Chappell’s copyright claim stems from its acquisition in 1998 of Birch Tree Ltd, a company that traces its roots to Clayton Summy, according to the lawsuit. Summy bought the rights to “Good Morning to All” from the Hill sisters in 1893.
Robert Brauneis, a professor at George Washington University Law School, said he searched nationwide for evidence of a copyright for a combination of the melody for “Good Morning to All” with the lyrics for “Happy Birthday to You” for an article published in 2009 but did not find any.
Investors led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. bought Warner Music Group from Time Warner Inc in 2004 and sold it to its current owner, privately held Access Industries Inc, in 2011.
(Reporting by Bernard Vaughan; Editing by Bill Trott)
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Brazil pulls ‘happy prostitute’ campaign after backlash
SAO PAULO |
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil’s health ministry on Wednesday pulled an outreach campaign urging sex workers to use condoms after coming under fire from conservative lawmakers.
“I’m happy being a prostitute” was the slogan on a web campaign for International Prostitute Day that also encouraged sex workers to not be ashamed to seek medical treatment for sexually transmitted diseases.
The campaign was published on the health ministry’s website and social media sites last weekend, and has since provoked a wave of criticism, especially from evangelical legislators in Brazil’s congress.
“We are fighting childhood prostitution and here comes a campaign encouraging it,” federal deputy Liliam Sá said in a recent congressional committee meeting.
Health Minister Alexandre Padilha, a rising star in the ruling Workers’ Party who is expected to run for governor of São Paulo state next year, said in a Twitter post late Tuesday that the campaign had gone ahead without his authorization.
In the tweet, Padilha said the decision to scrap the campaign “came before any protests for or against it.”
Poorer Patients Often Less Happy With Knee Replacement
FRIDAY May 31, 2013 — Although knee-replacement surgery has improved dramatically over the years — with smaller incisions and better pain management and rehabilitation — the procedure’s success may depend on socioeconomic factors, new research finds.
Lower-income patients are more likely to be dissatisfied and have worse knee function than more affluent patients following knee replacement, according to the study, which was published online recently in the journal Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research.
Researchers led by Dr. Robert Barrack, of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, examined more than 600 people who underwent knee-replacement surgery at one of five major total joint centers across the United States. The patients, whose average age was 54, were asked about their job, their level of education and their income. The study also took participants’ gender and ethnicity into account.
The patients completed questionnaires following their surgery to determine how satisfied they were with the results of the procedure.
Patients’ income levels were linked to their level of satisfaction with their knee replacement, the study revealed. Those making less than $ 25,000 a year were less satisfied with the procedure and had more limitations with their knee function after surgery, according to a journal news release.
Income level was the only socioeconomic factor that affected patients’ satisfaction with their knee replacement, the researchers said. Women and minority patients, however, were more likely to report having functional limitations after surgery.
Inadequate postsurgical rehabilitation for patients with lower incomes could help explain their findings, the researchers said. They noted that previous studies have shown that minority patients are more likely to be treated at hospitals that do not perform as many knee-replacement procedures as high-volume specialist centers, where overall satisfaction levels are high.
The researchers said the study did not find a cause-and-effect relationship between lower income and dissatisfaction with knee-replacement surgery, but said the association was “significant.”
“It is certainly possible, based on our results, that socioeconomic factors — particularly household income — may be strongly associated with satisfaction and functional results,” they said. “Future studies should be directed to determining the causes of this association, and if further studies do, in fact, confirm this hypothesis, then studies of clinical results after total knee [replacement] should consider stratifying patients by socioeconomic status.”
More information
Visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine to learn more about knee replacement.
Posted: May 2013
Friday Funnies: Happy Birthday To Willie Nelson
Erik | May 03, 2013 | Comments 0
For this edition of Friday Funnies we are checking out a video clip from the Jimmy Kimmel Live show as they head out into the streets of La-La land to have pedestrians wish the famous marijuana-toking country star Willie Nelson a happy 80th birthday.
Thanks for tuning in to The 420 Times for all your cannabis community news and entertainment. We appreciate your dedicated readership! Puff, puff, laugh!
Filed Under: Entertainment • Exclusive Web Content • Friday Funnies
Happy Birthday, Dennis Peron!
In the battle to legalize cannabis, there are two legends. The late, great Jack Herer, who wrote The Emperor Wears No Clothes, is best known in our community. But Dennis Peron has equally dedicated his life to freeing the weed. He tested the limits of the law long before legalization became a national cause. Peron is a legendary figure in San Francisco politics: a Vietnam veteran, marijuana dealer, AIDS activist, and close friend and political associate of Harvey Milk, the …More
HIGHTIMES.COM –
