Happy Birthday - Did You Know?

It is said that in 1893, two sisters who taught at a Kindergarten School in Kentucky – Mildred J. Hill and Patty Smith Hill (no connection to the more famous 70s rocker Patty Smith) – composed a melody they called ‘Good Morning to You’, which eventually evolved into the erstwhile ‘Happy Birthday’ song.

Chicago based music publisher Clayton F. Summy Company, working with a third Hill sister, Jessica, published and copyrighted ‘Happy Birthday’ in 1935. Under the laws in effect at the time, the Hills' copyright would have expired after one 28-year term and a renewal of similar length, falling into public domain by 1991. However, the Copyright Act of 1976 extended the term of copyright protection to 75 years from date of publication, and the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 added another 20 years, so under current law the copyright protection of ‘Happy Birthday’ will remain intact until at least 2030. More details here.

I didn’t know Happy Birthday had a Copyright to it. Also I don’t get the point.

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First conversation of the day :

Myself : "Dada jaaben? Salt Lake kotho?"

Dada (Pre-paid taxi driver) : "Aadhai-sho (Rs.250) taka. Maal neouar jonno extra"

Myself : "Dhaath moshai. Extra maane? Jaan jaabo naa"

Dada : "Arrey arrey daran daran. Aashun Boshun, kotha diye jaaben?"

Somethings in life don't change. Sometimes regular negativity can bring with it the familiar scent of home.

I arrived home a few hours back. After five long years. This time for good.