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Days before trial and over two years of federal court litigation, a confidential settlement has been reached that would allow the lyrics to the “Happy Birthday” song, one of the world’s most popular songs, to enter the public domain.

The origins of “Happy Birthday” date back to 1893 with the publication of “Good Morning to All,” written by Mildred Hill and her sister Patty, a kindergarten teacher in Kentucky, which had the same tune but different lyrics.Years later, the lyrics to “Happy Birthday” were adapted to the song’s melody. The “Happy Birthday” song was then published in a number of sing-along collections and music books. In 1935, the publisher of one of those books filed for a copyright for the lyrics and music. In 1988, the copyright was transferred to Warner Music.

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Paramount Pictures Corp., and CBS Studios have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in federal court in California against a company preparing to begin production on a planned independent Star Trek crowdfunded fan film.

The lawsuit, claims that the fan film incorporates “innumerable” copyrighted elements of Star Trek. Axanar Productions, the production company behind the fan-film, stated that “Axanar, will be the first non-CBS/Paramount produced Star Trek to look and feel like a true Star Trek movie.”

Axanar Productions claimed to have raised over $1 million through a crowd sourcing campaign, and was set to start shooting the film in February 2016. Some of that money was used to create a mini-concept film and to construct a sound stage. We will see what impact this copyright infringement lawsuit has on the production of the independent film financed by Star Trek fans.