Our nation's founding fathers determined that it was in the public interest that the creative works of a person's mind and spirit should belong, for a limited time, to the creator. The protection of these works is called "copyright." The United States Copyright Law grants the copyright owner exclusive rights to their creative work for a specific period of time or term. The term of copyright protection for works published prior to 1978 is 95 years from the date of publication. For works published after 1977 the term is equal to the length of the life of the author/creator plus 70 years. By law, the copyright owner is the only one who has the right to reproduce their work. If any other party wants to reproduce the material in any manner, permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. Copyrighted creative works such as musical compositions are often referred to as "intellectual property." That is exactly how they should be treated—as the property of the copyright owner.
The copyright owner. This may be the original creator (author or composer), a publisher, or an agent who has been assigned the right to license use of the work by the copyright owner.
The copyright owner's name is listed in the copyright notice. Copyright notices should appear on all reproductions of copyrighted works. On printed music the notice is generally found on the bottom of the first page of music. On recordings the notice can usually be found on the packaging. The copyright notice will contain the word "copyright" or the symbol © (musical compositions and printed material) or (p) (for sound recordings), followed by the year of first publication, and the name of the copyright owner.
. . . YES, you must request permission by securing licenses from the copyright owner prior to making any of the copies or duplications described above.
If you want to include copyrighted lyrics in your bulletin . . . arrange a copyrighted song for four baritones and kazoo . . . or make any use of copyrighted music in any way, the magic word is . . . ASK. Copyright owners as a whole wish to see their music used by the widest possible audience. You may or may not receive permission, but when you use someone else's property you must have the property owner's consent.
Call. Many publishers routinely grant permissions over the phone, but try to plan ahead.
To protect yourself and your organization you should destroy all unauthorized photocopies, tapes, etc., and replace them with legal editions. Possession of illegal copies puts you in a position of being a potential copyright infringer.
Yes, "the religious services exemption" in the Copyright Law permits the performance of copyrighted religious works in the course of services at places of worship or at religious assemblies. However, performance licenses must be obtained from the copyright owner for any musical performance outside of a specific "worship service" including concerts and special musical programs.
Yes, but you must contact the copyright owner and obtain a "mechanical license." You will be charged a fee, the amount of which is determined by the "statutory rate" as set forth in the Copyright Law. The statutory rate, for the period of January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2003 is 8 cents, for the period of January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2005 it is 8.5 cents, and for the period of January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2007 it is 9.1 cents. This includes recordings of church services, concerts, musicals, or any programs that include copyrighted music.
No, not without permission. Two separate licenses are necessary in this situation. The first is from the copyright owner of the work to be recorded, and the second is from the publisher of the accompaniment track. Many times these will be one in the same. Fees are usually required for each permission.
No. For assistance in locating copyright owners and publishers, visit MPA Directory of Music Publishers.
Yes, Christian Copyright Licensing, Inc. (CCLI) and OneLicense.net provide such a license. Contact CCLI at: www.ccli.com or 1-800-234-2446 or 6130 NE 78th Court, Suite C-11, Portland, OR 97218. Contact OneLicense.net at www.onelicense.net or 1-800-ONE-1501 or 7343 S. Mason Ave. Chicago, IL 60638 IMPORTANT: These Licenses do not grant the right to photocopy or duplicate any choral music, cantatas, musicals, handbell music, keyboard arrangements, vocal solos, or instrumental works. These licenses grant duplicating rights for congregational music only.These licenses do not allow a church to forgo requesting permission to print a custom hymnal of their own. Please email permissions@hopepublishing.com for information on obtaining this type of permission.
No, not without permission. Many publishers are agreeable, under special circumstances, to allow reprinting of out-of-print items, but again, permission must be secured from the copyright owner prior to any duplication.
Public domain simply means that the term of the copyright protection has expired and anyone is free to use those works in any way. The absence of a copyright notice is one indication that a song may be in the public domain.
Fair use is not generally applicable to churches. Fair use permits portions of copyrighted works to be legally reproduced for purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, classroom teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use does not apply to a performance.
No. You must obtain permission from the copyright owner and the recording publisher (if they are not one in the same) to duplicate a recording for any purpose.
The law provides for the owner of a copyright to recover damages ranging from $500 to $100,000 per copyright infringed. If willful infringement for commercial advantage and private financial gain is proved, criminal fines of up to $250,000 and/or five years' imprisonment may apply. It is not better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
Not without permission. If you have a CCLI license, you are allowed to make a limited number of recordings for your congregation. See your license for more details.
Carefully read the labels and notices on all of these to see what you can and cannot do without permission from the copyright owner. When in doubt, ASK the copyright owner.
© Church Music Publishers Association