I may be going into the computer show today. I have a good handle on the industry anyway, and I am not sure that I will learn much. But I will decided a bit later in the morning…

Microsoft is, so it would appear, be in some hot water over copyright infringement. According to The Register, Microsoft have been caught with their fingers in the cookie jar. Visiting the Office web site allows you to download a MIDI file of the Happy Birthday song. At least in the USA, this song will still be under copyright until 2030. However, some more research on WikiPedia suggests that the tune itself is not actually under copyright since it is based on a tune in the public domain with only one note changed.

And thankfully, in Australia, the copyright for the words expired at the beginning of 1997, and the music before that. The free trade agreement with the USA will probably change that for future works, extending copyright to more than 50 years after the death of the author.