Happy Day Of Birth Is The Copyright Free Version

(My friend and I are watching anime shows and tossing out silly commentary. The episode shows a scene with a birthday party, and although we’re watching the Japanese-voiced version of the show with subtitles, all the characters break out in broken English to sing the classic “Happy Birthday to You.” It should be noted that this song, until recently, has been infamously copyrighted for decades, so although it’s universally popular, every professional establishment from media to restaurants have actively avoided using it to avoid legal issues.)

Me: “Holy crap! They used the copyrighted birthday song! And I don’t know if this was before or after it went public domain! Japan is ballsy.”

Friend: “I enjoy how we live in a world where singing ‘Happy Birthday to You’ is ballsy.”