If you are celebrating your birthday today feel free to sing a little louder when the cake comes out.
A US judge has ruled the copyright for Happy Birthday, the most sung song of all time, is invalid and that the company who owns it, Warner/Chappell, has no right to charge for its use.
The judge, George King in California, decided that the copyright did not apply to the lyrics and only applied to a specific arrangement originally filed in 1935.
Warner/Chappell, part of the Warner Music Group, acquired the rights in 1988 for a sum said to be US$15mln and was earning US$2mln in royalties each year.
All of the money received may now have to be paid back according to lawyers working for the group that brought the case.
And as others have found, once the US litigant genie is out of the bottle he’s a tricky so and so to get back, something that Volkswagen may experience very soon.
The German car maker is in danger of being swamped by the tsunami of developments following its revelation that it may have tweaked its US diesel pollution performance figures a tad.
Chief executive Martin Winkerhorn is defiantly hanging on, albeit by his fingernails, but his cuticles are not going to be enough according to the latest buzz on the business networks.
Reports are that he will face the VW board today or tomorrow, where his fate will be decided.
Volkswagen has admitted 11 million vehicles worldwide were involved, with provisions for compensation already up to €6.5bn (£4.7bn).
But tweets today were suggesting that may be just the start.
The US Department of Justice is now getting involved, which on past precedents in cases such as the banks may mean criminal charges for both the company and management and swingeing fines.
In addition, cars sold in countries as far afield as South Korea Australia are now being embroiled as well as the US and European Union.
VW‘s market value has already crashed by €30bn and there was little sign of a rally today.
Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) meanwhile was another giant corporate facing some uncomfortable questions as a group of European researchers claimed the search engine giant’s YouTube arm was charging for adverts viewed by bots rather than real people.
Google was said to have contacted the researchers to discuss their findings.
Guinness and Johnnie Walker maker Diageo (LON:DGE) said the weakness of emerging-market currencies will knock £150m off its annual profit, while Lancashire water supplier United Utilities has set aside £25mln for compensation for disruption caused by a cryptosporidium outbreak.
Emeralds and rubies miner Gemfields (LON:GEM) boasts film star Mila Kunis as its brand ambassador, but it was the less glamourous part of the business that grabbed the attention today.
Its mine at Kagem in Zambia has enough material to keep producing quality emeralds for 25 years, according to an independent assessment.
That is a lot greenery and could generate cash of US$1.6bn over the 25 year term.
Oil fans, meanwhile, latched on to Hague and London Oil (LON:HNL), with its shares up 133% as it agreed to buy 85% of a project offshore Indonesia for an initial commitment of US$500,000.