OT: Greatest Songwriters

[Dan S. MacAbre]

Thanks! I hadn't actually heard that one.

[Jim]

Kat McSnatch:

NSFW or anywhere else, really.

[ARW]

And still looking good.

She is either a love her or hate her.

The Man With The Child In His Eyes was supposedly written when she was thirteen years old.

[whisky-dave]

I thought the most covered song was Happy Birthday but they just don't know who or where the original came from.

[whisky-dave]

For stopping one of the best 'pop tunes' from reaching no. 1

[NY]

The article in Wikipedia

attributes the tune to two American sisters in the 1890s. In 1935 the copyright was registered, crediting two other authors. For some reason, the fact that the words and melody first appeared in print in 1912 (so the song was created no later than this) still allowed copyright to date from 1935, so the US 100-year copyright does not expire until 2035. However the US Federal Court ruled in 2016 that this claim was invalid because it related only to one specific arrangement (*), and so Happy Birthday is out of copyright in the EU and US.

(*) Take the example of Morning Has Broken. The tune, Bunessan, is traditional. The words were written by Eleanor Farjeon. Rick Wakeman wrong the into, middle and ending, and the accompanying embellishments, that Cat Stevens used in his famous version of it. The 1935 claim for Happy Birthday was like claiming copyright on all performances of Morning Has Broken, rather than just those of the Rick Wakeman arrangement. (Having said that, I bet most times it is sung in church, the Wakeman arrangement is used! The original melody, without embellishments, is rather plain and uninspiring.)