[Ads-l] Happy Birthday published in 1922, so out of copyright?

[Laurence Horn]

...or not, depending on the upcoming judgment.  If so, the public's gain would be the LSA's loss.  

For those who don't get the reference, the funds that eventually descended to the U. of Texas linguist Archibald A. Hill (1902-1992) from his "maiden aunts" Patty and Mildred Hill, have helped, through his generosity, to sustain the Linguistic Society of America, and in particular made possible the Archibald A. Hill suite that has housed the Secretariat of the society.  A nice obituary for Archibald Hill appears at  http://www.utexas.edu/faculty/council/2000-2001/memorials/Hill,%20A/hill,%20a.html and includes this remark about him and his wife Muriel (who predeceased him): 
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The Hills had no children of their own, and both of them sometimes spoke of the LSA as their child. Certainly it would be a lucky son or daughter who received as much love and care as the Society and all its outworks while Arch was secretary-treasurer. He was president of the LSA in 1969, and the suite of offices housing the secretariat of the Society is named in his honor.
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Some of us linguists of a certain age make a habit to patiently watch the credits roll after any movie in which "Happy Birthday" is played and/or sung until we see the Hill sisters' names appear.  It wouldn't be the same without them.     

LH

> On Aug 4, 2015, at 12:36 PM, Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU> wrote:
> 
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.nytimes.com_2015_08_05_business_media_an-2Dold-2Dsongbook-2Dcould-2Dput-2Dhappy-2Dbirthday-2Din-2Dthe-2Dpublic-2Ddomain.html-3Fhpw-26rref-3Dbusiness-26action-3Dclick-26pgtype-3DHomepage-26module-3Dwell-2Dregion&d=AwIFog&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=qDKnhVpRhhmTWR8ZO4eSSxSHGU5wUSHXp8QmTQtadp0&s=ypMWvHt2BUm7caHlAlgN-J0Z6aTJWjC5f1ItK9viX9s&e= ®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.nytimes.com_2015_08_05_business_media_an-2Dold-2Dsongbook-2Dcould-2Dput-2Dhappy-2Dbirthday-2Din-2Dthe-2Dpublic-2Ddomain.html-3Fhpw-26rref-3Dbusiness-26action-3Dclick-26pgtype-3DHomepage-26module-3Dwell-2Dregion-26region-3Dbottom-2Dwell-26WT.nav-3Dbottom-2Dwell-26-5Fr-3D0&d=AwIFog&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=qDKnhVpRhhmTWR8ZO4eSSxSHGU5wUSHXp8QmTQtadp0&s=aPUSb6oTTDbvC-2YEmb-LuDtl46irbrFrmiLzxx5VNs&e= >
> 
> 
> SG
> 
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> The American Dialect Society - https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.americandialect.org&d=AwIFog&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=qDKnhVpRhhmTWR8ZO4eSSxSHGU5wUSHXp8QmTQtadp0&s=3o6J1SCj5CMpbsYC8qI1-WpUvGR6xZNrwAgj0EyJP1s&e= 

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