If you answer yes to any of these, then ask yourself: Does my church have a CCLI license?
If you answer no, then you are breaking the law and need to read on.
Why is it breaking the law to make copies of music or books that I purchased or reproduce the lyrics in printed form even without the music?
When a song is under copyright, it is considered property of the copyright owner. Any other person or organization must obtain permission from the copyright owner to do anything with that person’s property. Even though you buy a book with that music in it, it does not give you the right to do anything you wish with it.
Why?
The U.S. copyright laws of 1990 and 1976 determined that copyright is property and that copyright owners should be paid for the use of their property.
How do I know if a song is under copyright?
First, look at the bottom of the song page for something like this: © 1987 Manna Music. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Then it is safe to assume the song is under copyright. That means permission is needed to make copies, reproduce only the words, do an arrangement of the song, or make a recording.
In a hymnal, if you do not see a copyright line, the song is probably public domain. You can also find information about a song in many places on the Internet. A good place to find information on music is at www.nmpa.org.
What is public domain?
Music and lyrics written by an American author and published in 1922 or earlier are in the public domain (PD) in the United States. No one can claim ownership of a song in public domain, therefore everyone may use such songs. PD songs may be used for profit-making without paying any royalties. If you create a new version or derivative of a PD song, you can copyright your version, and no one can use it without your permission. However, the song remains in the public domain, and anyone else can also make and copyright his or her own version of the same PD song.
Songs change over time. Even though a PD version exists, some versions may still be under copyright protection. The only way to confidently identify a PD version is to find a copy of the song with a copyright date old enough for public domain status. You can then use that PD version or work from it to create your own derivative work. If you work from a version still under copyright protection, the copyright owner can likely make a valid claim for royalties.
What about fair use?
Fair use does not apply to churches. It applies to schools and even then is limited.
What is a CCLI license and how does it assist in this matter of copyright?
Christian Copyright Licensing International is a company that works with copyright owners in obtaining limited permission for churches to use their music for congregational worship. By registering for a CCLI license, you obtain a blanket permission (on CCLI covered songs) to do the things listed at the beginning of this article This prevents you from breaking copyright laws pertaining to worship music in your church. A yearly fee, based on the size of your church, is paid to CCLI, and they disburse it to the copyright owners. If you did not have a CCLI license, you would need to obtain permission from each copyright owner for each song you wanted to use for worship. That would create an expensive headache.
People do it all the time. How will anyone know if my church doesn’t have the correct permissions?
While there are not copyright police lurking in churches, it is the church’s responsibility to uphold laws, set an example, and be found blameless in the eyes of the Lord.
Here is a real-life example:
A pastor asks his music minister to put together a book of the church’s favorite choruses. They will be reproduced and used for congregational worship. The church does not have a CCLI license and the book contains 25 songs. Somehow that book ends up in the hands of one of the songwriters, and he is aware that no permissions were obtained. He writes a letter to the music minister saying that he is aware that this book was produced illegally. He also sends this letter to every company that has a song in that book. The music minister and church are in hot water.
Each company could file legal action against the church, including serious fines and possibly even imprisonment of the music minister. With a CCLI license, all this could have been avoided. The songbooks could have been produced for congregational worship without penalty.
Copyright is a serious issue to our churches. The penalties for infringement are harsh. The court can award up to $100,000 for each separate act of willful infringement. Willful infringement means that you knew you were infringing, and you did it anyway. Ignorance of the law, though, is no excuse. If you don’t know you’re infringing, you still are liable for damages—only the amount of the award will be affected.
For more information regarding CCLI and copyright, visit the national Music Department Web site: www.music.ag.org, look under “Useful tools,” and click on “Copyright Information”; or call 1-417-862-2781, ext. 4134, for more information.
—Adapted from Network News, Fall 2002. Used with permission.
