SHOCK ! HORROR ! FAKE FAIRIES !

 After unearthing  in a Townsville Op Shop  this 1960 reissue   of  the  1907  piece of   piano sheet  music   with  what  looks  like  an Australian  gumtree  and  cavorting  elfin  figures  on the cover ,  we  wondered  if  the  artwork could  be  attributed  to  the  late  Ira  Rentoul  Outhwaite, the   noted  Australian  drawer  of   fairies,  mentioned  previously   in  this  blog.  On  discussing  her  with  a  dealer  and  collector  ,  he   dropped  the   bombshell  that  the  Chinese  are  supposedly   producing   Outhwaite   copies  in  vast  numbers . No!  Now  our  suntanned   Aussie  fairies  are  Chinese... What   next - bunyips ?   Hands off  our  fairies !  Wake up Australia   and   protect   our   wee  people  !  Researching   the  composer ,  (Mrs)   R.R.FORMAN , we  discovered  the  story  behind  the  world’s most popular song–Happy Birthday To You  –turned up  court cases over  copyright and the massive royalties paid out   for  use of the song , said to  be $5000  a day   in 2008. Along the way  Marilyn Monroe , who sang Happy Birthday to JFK,  blew  us  a   kiss  , causing   us to break out in a sweat . The Guinness  Book of  World Records  said the  happy birthday song , in which  Forman played a part , is the most recognised tune in the English language . The  melody   has  been  attributed  to   Good Morning To All  , composed   by   two kindergarten teachers  in Kentucky , Patty and Mildred Hill,   back in the 1890s.The combination of melody and lyrics is said to have first  appeared in print in 1912 and in 1935  copyright  was credited to Preston Ware Orem and Mrs R. R. Forman, she  a  composer of many hymns. Warner Chapell  Music bought the company owning the copyright   for $25 million , Happy Birthday  worth  an  estimated $5million at the time  . The  unhappy copyright  battle  apparently  continues .