I’m ill and I’m grumpy, so this site hits my current mood nicely.
It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who hates to hear restaurant staff and customers singing “Happy Birthday” to some hapless soul sitting in their midst. The people who run Unhappy Birthday also dislike this as much as I do and they have a plan…
It turns out that the song is copyrighted and therefore all public performances (and restaurant parties count as public performances) should incur fees payable to the copyright holder (which is currently Time Warner). The site therefore suggests a campaign of writing to Time Warner informing them of unlicensed performances of their copyrighted material. This, they hope, will lead to a spate of requests for fees from Time Warner to the owners of small restaurants and that will lead to the restaurant owners stopping people from singing the song in their restaurant. This, eventually, creates a far more pleasant dining experience for all.
I’m all for it :)