uJudge Says “Happy Birthday” Song No Longer Covered By Copyrightr

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  Filmmakers, musicians, and anyone else wishing to perform “Happy Birthday To You” no longer has to worry about paying hefty royalties to Warner/Chappell, the publisher that has long claimed to hold the copyright for the ditty. Yesterday, a federal judge ruled that the classic party tune is in the public domain.

  Earlier this year, some filmmakers behind Happy Birthday, a documentary about the song’s history, sued Warner to get back the $1,500 they were required to pay for its use in the film. During the process, they turned up what they believed to be the “proverbial smoking-gun” to prove that the publisher did not hold copyright for the song’s lyrics; at best, Warner could claim copyright over just a particular piano arrangement, the filmmakers claimed.

  Around 1893, sisters Mildred and Patty Hill penned a song called “Good Morning To You,” which was subsequently printed in song books by publisher Clayton F. Summy, and is the basis for the birthday tune. The copyright on “Good Morning” expired in 1949, meaning the basic tune for the contended song is in the public domain.

  The origin of the lyrics is less cut-and-dry. The earliest publication of the words for “Happy Birthday” were printed in a 1911 song book called The Elementary Worker and His Work. No author was credited, though the book mentioned that the song was to be sung to the tune of “Good Morning.”

  After the song grew in popularity — appearing in multiple films and a stage play without permission from the supposed authors — Summy received copyright for the song in 1935. And thanks to the lobbying of Disney, copyright law has been revised (and will continue to be revised to protect Mickey Mouse) so that many things copyrighted after 1923 still haven’t entered the public domain.

  But the U.S. District Court judge in this case ruled [PDF] there was no contractual agreement between the Hill sisters and Summy at the time. In fact, the Hills sued Summy in 1942, alleging that the publisher had allowed their music to be used in movies and plays without their permission. At the time, the Hills acknowledged there had been an agreement with Summy granting the publisher a “a number of licenses” for “various piano arrangements” for “Good Morning” and “Happy Birthday.”

  That lawsuit was settled by the Hills reaching a new deal with Summy that transferred all of the sisters’ rights to the publisher.

  Warner/Chappell purchased Summy in 1988 for $15 million and has been collecting royalties and going after alleged copyright infringers since.

  However, in ruling for the filmmakers, the judge says that “Because Summy Co. never acquired the rights to the ‘Happy Birthday’ lyrics,” Warner/Chappell does not “own a valid copyright” on the birthday song.

  The judge says the song’s authors never made any attempt to protect the lyrics of “Happy Birthday,” noting “They did not try to obtain federal copyright protection. They did not take legal action to prevent the use of the lyrics by others, even as Happy Birthday became very popular and commercially valuable.”

  It wasn’t until 1934, when third sister Jessica Hill asserted the sisters’ rights to the melody, “but still made no claim to the lyrics,” according to the judge.

  “The Hill sisters gave Summy Co. the rights to the melody, and the rights to piano arrangements based on the melody,” he writes, “but never any rights to the lyrics.”

  This may not be the final word on the status of the classic song.

  “We are looking at the court’s lengthy opinion and considering our options,” Warner/Chappell said in a statement.

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uKohl’s Hops On The Same-Day Delivery Testing Trainr

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  The seemingly never-ending list of retailers wading into the same-day delivery game grew by one this week: Kohl’s will test a quick-delivery service in two markets in an attempt to revamp its digital presence and attract customers who want their purchases to arrive as quickly as possible.

  The retail department store chain announced Tuesday that it is piloting a same-day delivery service in Chicago and San Francisco, the Milwaukee Business Journal reports.

  To be part of the new test, customers place orders on Kohls.com or on the company’s mobile app by 1 p.m., select the same-day delivery option and the item will be delivered by 8 p.m., the company says. Orders placed after 1 p.m. will be delivered the following day.

  While the company didn’t elaborate on the cost of the service in its announcement, a look at the shipping options on its website shows that same-day delivery costs a flat fee of $14.95.

  

  In addition to unveiling its same-day delivery pilot, Kohl’s updated its app in an attempt to streamline the mobile shopping experience by adding personalization functions and easier navigation of promotions, “Kohl’s Cash” and coupons available at the retailer.

  Kohl’s will also add Apple Pay for mobile customers and Visa Checkout for online and mobile purchases.

  Kohl’s testing same-day delivery in two markets [The Milwaukee Business Journal]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uT-Mobile Enters iPhone Rental Wars With Bottom Price Of $5 Per Monthr

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  If you’re the kind of person who upgrades their phone every year, T-Mobile has a tempting deal on the iPhone 6S, as long as you join their Jump On Demand program. If you thought that their $20 per month offer on the device was tempting, last night CEO John Legere announced on Twitter that people who turn in their decrepit old iPhone 6 will get their new phone for $5 per month.

  That’s an even more aggressive offer than competitors. We thought their initial pricing of $20 per month announced a few weeks ago was already pretty aggressive. However, this year is the first iPhone upgrade cycle where all carriers are offering financing and rental plans instead of the model where customers pay $200 for their phones and accept a carrier subsidy.

  Sprint is pushing its iPhone Forever plan, and AT&T and Verizon have their own financing deals. For the first time, Apple has a program that effectively leases phones to consumers, even if it’s not officially called that.

  Note that T-Mobile doesn’t say what the monthly price for the next phone will be, which Jump (I can’t bring myself to write it with the exclamation point) plan users are likely to upgrade to in 12 months, since upgrading whenever the customer feels like it is the point of the Jump On Demand program.

  4/ How does getting the new #iPhone6s for as little as $5/month or $10/month sound on @TMobile w/ #JUMPonDemand?! OK – DONE!

  — John Legere (@JohnLegere) September 22, 2015

  5/ On Friday, you can get the new #iPhone6s at @TMobile w/ #JUMPonDemand for $5, $10 or $15/month – depending on model and trade-in #BOOM

  — John Legere (@JohnLegere) September 22, 2015

  Yes, this deal is available to you if you already pre-ordered your phone from T-Mobile. Pricing starts at $20 if you have no phone to trade in, $15 for most trade-ins, $10 for an iPhone 5S, and $5 if you trade in the last generation of iPhone. T-Mobile wants to hook frequent upgraders.

  T-Mobile trade-in plan offers iPhone 6s from $5 per month [TMoNews]

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uStarbucks Debuts Toasted Graham Latte, The Chain’s First New Fall Flavor In Four Yearsr

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• Because there are only so many pumpkin spice lattes a person can handle, Starbucks has decided to mix up its autumnal menu a bit with its first new fall flavor in four years: the Toasted Graham Latte is available at the chain’s locations in the U.S. and Canada as of today.

  If you were a fan of dunking graham crackers in milk as a kid (or hey, as an adult too, since snacks are for everyone), then this sounds like a drink you might like.

  As Starbucks describes it: “Graham and sweet cream meet steamed milk and our signature espresso, then are finished off with a sprinkling of cinnamon graham crumbles for a less sweet perfect treat.”

  After considering 20 to 30 new beverage flavors during research and development, the Starbucks team decided on the new flavor because it brings back memories of fall, partly, and also because everyone is into that “cereal milk” kind of flavor.

  “I thought about the back-to-school season and looked at the latest food and beverage trends,” Starbucks’ R&D manager Yoke Wong in a press release. “What I found to be quite popular in the U.S. is the taste of cereal milk, the delicious leftovers in your breakfast bowl.”

  The lattes come in new fall paper cups decorated with leaves that will be “monogrammed with customers’ names in orange Sharpie” (is that what they call it when someone scrawls “Marvin Beth” on your drink?) by baristas wearing “fall-inspired clothes such as flannel scarves and sweaters” to celebrate the TGL’s launch.

  The TGL is in stores until supplies run out.

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uNASA Creates App Aimed At Shortening Commercial Flights, Saving Fuelr

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• There’s an app for just about everything. And that now includes one created by NASA and aimed at helping commercial airlines shorten flight times and conserve fuel.

  NASA announced on Tuesday that Alaska Airlines and Virgin America will be the first commercial carriers to use the new Traffic Aware Planner (TAP) application to make “traffic aware strategic aircrew requests (TASARs)” in order to save time and reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

  The technology – which is loaded into a tablet – works by reading the planes current position, route and other real-time information and then looks for an alternate routes or altitude changes that can save both time and money.

  “TAP connects directly to the aircraft avionics information hub on the aircraft,” David Wing, TASAR project lead at NASA’s Langley Research Center, said, adding that the device can connect to with the plane’s Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) receiver and scan the ADS-B signals of nearby air traffic to avoid potential conflicts in any proposed flight path changes, making it easier for air traffic controllers to approve a pilot’s route change request.

  Airlines equipped with Internet connectivity in the cockpit can also use the technology to check weather conditions, wind forecasts and restricted airspace status to further increase flight efficiency.

  Because the software is loaded into a tablet – which many pilots already use – it doesn’t require any major changes to be made to the aircraft.

  Wing says his team has already tested the technology several times, including once in which they changed the route, received permission from air traffic control, and saved about four minutes off the flight time.

  While four minutes might not sound like a lot of time, Wing says that time shaved off each leg of the flight could translate into significant fuel savings.

  “Up until now there has been no way to deliver comprehensive wind and congestion data to pilots in near-real time,” Tom Kemp, Alaska Airlines’ vice president of operations, said. “TASAR is a ‘super app’ that will give our pilots better visibility to what’s happening now versus three hours earlier when the flight plan was prepared.”

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uFrench Constitutional Court Upholds Law Banning Amateur Uber Driversr

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  Back in August, Uber stopped running its UberPop service. That’s the equivalent of the UberX service in the United States, where safe drivers who just have regular licenses, not livery licenses, hire themselves out to drive people around for a lower price than taxi service. The reason wasn’t the pending legal challenge: the company claims that it feared for the safety of its drivers and passengers.

  That’s because taxi drivers were staging sometimes-violent protests against UberPop and the lower barrier to entry it represents for the taxi profession. While the drivers could have stayed on the road until today’s decision from the Constitutional Court came down, the company chose to suspend the service while its legality was in question.

  Uber argued that a 2014 French law banning amateur taxi drivers was unconstitutional, and that the law might have inadvertently made commercial ride-sharing services illegal. Those are services for people who want to split travel expenses, rather than the taxi-like driver-for-hire services that were the target of the law.

  Today, the Constitutional Court declared that the law doesn’t violate the French constitution, and that the law banning ride-hailing services that employ amateur chauffeurs does not ban services that connect people to share rides.

  UberPop/UberX hasn’t caught on in Europe, and the company’s strategy has shifted to hiring licensed taxi drivers instead of fighting them. That’s similar to the approach the company has taken in some cities in its home country, too, notably New York. While the service isn’t as cheap as amateurs driving around in their personal vehicles would be, the power to summon a vehicle with one’s smartphone is much better than traditional hailing methods.

  French Law That Banned UberPop Service Survives Legal Challenge [NY Times]
  Société UBER France SAS et autre (II) [Incrimination de la mise en relation de clients avec des conducteurs non professionnels] [Constitutional Court] (French)

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uRegulators Won’t Investigate Claims That Walmart’s “Raise In Pay” Commercial Is Misleadingr

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  Federal regulators won’t investigate a Walmart television advertisement two months after an ad review board found the retailer might have misled TV viewers about recent changes in pay for Walmart workers.

  Earlier this summer, the National Advertising Division of the Council for Better Business Bureaus attempted to verify claims made in Walmart’s “Raise in Pay” campaign about the store’s recent wage increases and workers’ quality of life. When Walmart refused to comply with the NAD review process, the board forwarded the matter to the Federal Trade Commission, which handles false advertising claims, to consider.

  The FTC responded in September with a letter [PDF] to the NAD saying the agency had decided against opening an investigation into the matter.

  According to the FTC’s letter, the agency came to its decision not to probe the commercial after considering “a number of factors related to resource allocation and enforcement priorities, as well as, the nature of any FTC Act violation and the type and severity of any consumer injury.”

  In requesting the investigation, the review board expressed concern that the ad implied Walmart had raised the wages of its employees from minimum wage to $15 per hour, and that the increased wages represented a living wage, allowing employees to earn enough money to support themselves and “build a future.”

  The 30-second ad features a variety of Walmart employees going about their daily lives outside of the work, while a voice over opines about earning a living wage and Walmart’s investment of over $1 billion this year in higher wages, education and training.

  At the time of NAD’s initial inquiry, Walmart declined to participate on the grounds that the board lacked jurisdiction.

  The retailer also disagreed that the commercial conveyed any implied messages that required substantiation. The company contended that whether the commercial made any implied claims, support for such claims was outside NAD’s mandate and that NAD did not have the expertise, bandwidth or procedures to fairly collect, analyze and evaluate the relevant facts and related policies to address the issues that the inquire raised.

  A spokesperson for NAD tells AdAge that the FTC sometimes declines to investigate an issue after informally talking to an advertiser and receiving assurance hat the spot won’t continue to run as is.

  However, she was unaware if that was the situation with the FTC and Walmart.

  A spokesperson for Walmart tells AdAge that the retailer has not agreed to modify or stop running the ad.

  While iSpot.tv shows that the ad hasn’t run since Sept. 3, an unedited version can still be found on Walmart’s official YouTube page.

  This isn’t the first time Walmart’s initiative to provide higher wages has come under fire.

  Last month, reports surfaced that despite the retailer raising wages, it had turned to cutting worker’s hours if a store’s sales projections aren’t in line with its labor spending.

  While Walmart claims this won’t affect efforts to provide better customer service, cleaner stores, or properly stock shelves.

  However, one Texas Walmart staffer says her store has cut 200 hours of worker pay per week from its ledger. In a single day, eight workers — including department managers — had been sent home by late afternoon. The employee says a customer had to wait 30 minutes for service because of the lack of staff.

  [via AdAge]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist