It is one of the most beloved and famous of all songs, belted out at countless¹ gatherings² for infant and octogenarian alike. Yet “Happy Birthday to You,” far from being as free as a piece of cake at a party, is actually considered private property.

这首歌家喻户晓、备受喜爱。下至学步婴儿，上至耄耋老人，无数人的聚会上都有这首歌高声响起。不过，《祝你生日快乐》并不像派对上的蛋糕一样免费，它的版权其实属于私人。

A federal lawsuit³ filed by a group of independent artists is trying to change that, and lawyers in the case, in a filing last week, said they had found evidence in the yellowed pages of a nearly century-old songbook that proves the song’s copyright — first issued in 1935 — is no longer valid⁴.

一群独立艺术家发起联邦诉讼，试图改变这个局面，本案原告律师们在上周提交的一份文件中声称，他们在一本近百年前的旧歌集泛黄的纸页间找到了证据，证明这首歌的版权已经过了保护期（1935年初次登记注册）。

A judge may rule in the case in coming weeks. If the song becomes part of the public domain⁵, it would cost the Warner Music Group, which holds the rights, millions of dollars in lost licensing⁶ fees. It would also be a victory for those who see “Happy Birthday to You” as emblematic⁷ of the problems with copyright — a song that has long since survived anyone involved in its creation, yet is still owned by a corporation that charges for its use.

接下来的几个星期里，法官将会对此案做出判决。如果这首歌属于公共版权，它目前的版权所有者华纳音乐集团将会损失数百万美元的版权许可费用。此外，还有许多人认为，《祝你生日快乐》堪称现行版权制度中各种问题的象征，这首歌所涉及的所有创作者均已作古，但它的版权却仍然属于一家大公司，使用它还要向公司缴纳费用。此案如果胜诉，对于这些人来说也不啻为一种胜利。

“It is one of the few songs that you’ve heard for as long as you’ve lived, and you kind of think of it as a folk song,” said Robert Brauneis, a professor at the George Washington University Law School who in 2010 published a skeptical⁸ study of the copyright of “Happy Birthday to You.”

“几乎没有什么歌能让人听一辈子，这首歌就是其中之一，你觉得它应该是属于民歌，”乔治·华盛顿大学法律学院的罗伯特·布罗奈斯(Robert Brauneis)说，2010年，他就《祝你生日快乐》的版权问题发表了一份充满怀疑的研究报告。

The case also highlights the centrality of copyright claims to media businesses like the music industry, where the question of who owns the rights to a song can be worth millions of dollars. Advocates for rigorous copyright laws point out that they protect musicians as well as the companies that represent them. Still, their interpretation⁹ can rattle¹⁰ the industry; that was the case in March, when a jury found that Robin¹¹ Thicke’s song “Blurred¹² Lines” had copied “Got to Give It Up,” a 1977 hit by Marvin Gaye.

这个案子也凸显出，对于音乐行业这样的媒体业来说，对版权的要求可谓重中之重——在音乐行业内，一首歌的版权归属价值成百上千万美元。支持严密的版权法的人指出，这些法律保护音乐人的利益，也保护代表音乐人的公司的利益。但是他们的解释也会令这个行业感到不安；比如今年三月，法庭判决罗宾·西克(Robin Thicke)的歌《含糊其辞》(Blurred Lines)抄袭了马文·盖伊(Marvin Gaye)1977年的金曲《要放弃了》(Got to Give It Up)。

Part of the dispute over “Happy Birthday” derives¹³ from the song’s byzantine publishing history. Its familiar melody was first published in 1893 as “Good Morning to All,” written by Mildred Hill and her sister Patty, a kindergarten teacher in Kentucky. Birthday-themed variations began to appear in the early 1900s, and soon “Happy Birthday to You” was a phenomenon¹⁴, popping up in films and hundreds of thousands of singing telegrams in the 1930s.

围绕着《生日快乐》的争议有部分是来自这首歌错综复杂的出版史。1893年出版了一首名为《大家早上好》(Good Morning to All)的歌，与它旋律颇为类似，创作者是米尔德里德·希尔(Mildered Hill)和她的姊妹——肯塔基州的幼儿园老师帕蒂(Patty)。生日快乐主题的演变版本于20世纪初出现；30年代，《祝你生日快乐》开始风靡一时，出现在许多电影里，乃至数十万“唱歌电报”中（由歌手为接收电报的人唱出电文内容，是一种礼物——译注）。

Its appearance in a scene in Irving Berlin’s show “As Thousands Cheer” in 1933 led to a lawsuit, and in 1935 the copyright for “Happy Birthday to You” was registered by the Clayton F. Summy Company, the Hill sisters’ publisher. The song changed hands over the years, and Warner acquired it in 1988 when buying the song’s owner, Birchtree Ltd., as part of a publishing deal reported at the time to be worth $25 million. According to some estimates, the song now generates about $2 million in licensing income each year, mostly from its use in television and film.

1933年，这首曲子出现在欧文·柏林(Irving Berlin)的演出里，名为《千万欢呼》(As Thousands Cheer)，引发了一场法律诉讼；1935年，《祝你生日快乐》的版权被希尔姊妹的出版商克莱顿·F·萨米公司(Clayton F. Summy Company)注册。多年来，这首歌的版权几经易手，1988年，华纳公司买下了这首歌的所有者伯奇特里有限公司(Birchtree Ltd.)，作为一项出版合约中的一部分，据当时的报道，该交易价值在250万美元。据估计，如今，《祝你生日快乐》每年为华纳公司带来200万美元的许可收益，大都来自电视和电影中的使用。

Yet while the song is widely performed at private gatherings, its copyright status leads to peculiar¹⁵ workarounds in public settings. Chain restaurants often come up with their own songs to avoid paying licensing fees, according to Mr. Brauneis’s paper. On live television, it is not uncommon¹⁶ for an impromptu¹⁷ performance to be quickly silenced by producers.

诚然，这首歌在私下场合广为使用，但它的版权状况在公共环境下却导致了各种应变之道。根据布罗奈斯的文章，（有人庆祝生日时）连锁餐厅经常播放自己的歌曲，避免为播放这首歌支付费用。在电视现场节目里，如果有嘉宾即兴演唱这首歌，制作人就赶快消音，这种事屡见不鲜。

Jennifer Nelson, who is making a documentary about the song and first filed the lawsuit against Warner two years ago, said that the company charged her $1,500 to use the song. The case, which has been joined by other artists and seeks class-action status, is being heard in federal court in Los Angeles. Plaintiffs want the song to be declared part of the public domain, and for Warner to return licensing fees dating to at least 2009.

詹妮弗·纳尔逊(Jennifer Nelson)正在为这首歌拍摄一部纪录片，两年前正是她首次起诉华纳公司，她说，公司要求她为使用这首歌支付1500美元。后来其他艺术家也加入进来共同起诉，洛杉矶联邦法庭已经受理这一案件。原告们希望这首歌可以被改判为属于公共版权，华纳公司则需退还至少到2009年为止他人支付的许可费用。

“Our clients want to give ‘Happy Birthday to You’ back to the public, which is what Patty Hill wanted all along,” said Mark C. Rifkin, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

“我们的客户希望把《祝你生日快乐》归还给公众，这也是帕蒂·希尔一直以来的愿望，”原告的一位律师马克·C·里夫金(Mark C. Rifkin)说。

Warner, which declined to comment for this article, contends in court filings that its copyright is valid. The song also generates hundreds of thousands of dollars each year for a nonprofit group, the Association for Childhood Education International.

华纳公司拒绝为本文接受采访，它在法律文书中主张，自己的版权是有效的。这首歌每年亦为非营利组织“国际儿童教育协会”(Association for Childhood Education International)带来数十万美元的收入。

Yet “Happy Birthday to You” has long been a prime target for critics of the laws that regulate copyright. Thanks to an extension made under the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 — which was lobbied for heavily by Hollywood — the song remains¹⁸ under protection through 2030.

其实《祝你生日快乐》早已是版权法批评者们的主要抨击对象。由于1998年通过的桑尼·波诺版权延长期法案（Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act，规定版权的保护期限是作者有生之年加死后70年，比伯尔尼公约规定的国际惯例多20年，1923年前的出版物均属公共版权——译注），版权保护期限得以延长（好莱坞做了大量院外游说，力主通过这一法案），因此这首歌直到2030年都在版权期保护之内。

“The fact that ‘Happy Birthday to You’ is still under copyright is the most symbolic¹⁹ example of how copyright has expanded and overreached beyond its Constitutional purpose,” said Kembrew McLeod, a communications professor at the University of Iowa who has written about the song.

“《祝你生日快乐》仍在版权保护期内，这是版权法过度扩张，达到违宪地步的最典型例子，”爱荷华大学传播学教授坎姆布鲁·麦克里奥德(Kembrew McLeod)为这首歌撰文写道。

Mr. Brauneis contended in his 2010 study that the song’s copyright may not have been properly renewed when its initial term expired, in 1963. But lawyers for the plaintiffs in the “Happy Birthday” suit — for whom Mr. Brauneis said he was working as an unpaid²⁰ consultant²¹ — now say they have proof of deeper problems.

1963年，这首歌的版权期第一次到期，布罗奈斯在他2010年的那篇文章中主张，当时就不应当将它的版权期予以延长。但《生日快乐》一案的原告律师们（布罗奈斯为他们充当免费顾问）说，他们有证据，可以揭示更深层次的问题。

Last week, they submitted evidence that they called “a proverbial smoking gun”: a 1922 songbook containing “Good Morning and Birthday Song,” with the birthday lyrics²² in the third verse. While other songs in the book are given with copyright notices, “Good Morning and Birthday Song” says only that it appears through “special permission” of the Summy Company. Under the laws of the time, an authorized²³ publication without proper copyright notice would result in forfeiture²⁴ of the copyright, according to lawyers involved in the case. Furthermore, under the 1998 law, anything published before 1923 is considered part of the public domain.

上星期，他们提交了一桩证据，他们称之为“众所周知的冒烟火枪”：那是一本1922年的歌集，里面收录了名为《早安与生日歌》(Good Morning and Birthday Song)的歌曲，第三段是生日快乐的歌词。那本书里的所有歌曲都附上了版权声明，《早安与生日歌》则是经过萨米公司的“特别许可”才得以使用的。本案律师称，根据当时的法律，正式出版物如果没有版权声明，就会导致版权被没收。根据1998年的法律，任何1923年以前出版的作品均属公共版权领域。

Warner argued that while earlier versions of the birthday song may have been published, they were not authorized by the sisters themselves. Also, no copyright covered “Happy Birthday,” the label argues, until it was registered in 1935, so there was no copyright to be invalidated in 1922.

华纳公司称，尽管生日歌的若干早期版本可能早早就得以发表，但它们都未经过两姐妹本人授权。此外，公司声称，没有一项版权涵盖了《祝你生日快乐》，直至这首歌于1935年正式注册，所以，不存在失效的1922年版权。

Both sides have asked for summary judgment²⁵, and the judge, George H. King of United States District Court in Los Angeles, is expected to rule soon. Judge King could deny both motions and hold a trial — raising the possibility of a strange proceeding²⁶ in which all principal witnesses are long dead.

双方都要求做出简易程序判决(summary judgment)，期望此案法官，美国洛杉矶地区法庭的乔治·H·金(George H. King)能够速战速决。金法官也可以否决双方的要求，举行庭审——这可能会很奇怪，因为所有关键证人都早已身故。

As part of the evidence submission²⁷ last week, the plaintiffs included a paper trail showing how they tracked down the songbook. It started with electronically scanned images from Warner of a 1927 edition of the same book, but with the publisher’s crucial permission line about “Good Morning and Birthday Song” blurred. Lawyers for the plaintiffs searched for other copies of the book and found one at the University of Pittsburgh; a 1922 edition was also located.

原告上周呈送的证据中包括书面文件，追溯他们是怎样查找到那本歌集。一开始，他们在华纳找到那本歌集1927年版的电子扫描图片，但关于《早安与生日歌》最关键的出版者许可那一行是模糊的。原告律师开始寻觅这本书的其他版本，最后在匹兹堡大学找到了；而且还找到了1922年的版本。

In a series of emails about the 1927 edition, a Pittsburgh librarian told Mr. Rifkin that the songbook had been found in a university storage facility.

在一系列关于该书1927年版的电子邮件通信里，匹兹堡的图书管理员告诉里夫金，这本歌集是在一间大学的储藏室里找到的。

“Here you go,” she wrote in sending it to him. “Surely the copyright hasn’t lasted this long.”

“加油吧，”她在随书附上的邮件里写道，“版权肯定持续不了这么久。”