Judge Gives “Happy Birthday” Lawyers Accolades, Millions

The lawyers who are responsible for putting the “Happy Birthday” song into the public domain will receive $4.62 million in legal fees – one-third of the $14 million settlement fund. U.S. District Judge George King said that they showed “impressive skill and effort.” The five-lawyer team, led by Randall Newman, began the suit in 2013, joining documentary filmmaker Jennifer Nelson to argue that the 1935 song was improperly protected by copyright. Ultimately, defendant Warner/Chappell agreed to a settlement that released the song to the public domain.  “Given the unusually positive results achieved by the settlement, the highly complex nature of the action, the risk class counsel faced by taking this case on a contingency-fee basis, and the impressive skill and effort of counsel, we conclude that a 1.2 multiplier is warranted,” King wrote.