I Am Not A Lawyer (as per discussion a week ago) but I would say you probably don't, unless those lyrics happen to be copyright by one of the publishers covered under CCLI.  Check the music; if the lyrics are specifically copyright, then you may need to address the issue.

 

Where you do need CCLI - or OneLicense or LicenSing - is if you're reproducing lyrics or music for the congregation to sing. The issue is then which company suits your needs best - CCLI tends to cover the more contemporary Christian repertoire, while the others work with the mainstream publishers: GIA, Hope, OUP, Alfred etc.  Check out their websites, from Resources (above) > Church Music > Church Music links

 

Brigid Coult

Richmond, BC

John,

Good for you for being concerned about this matter! So many churches seem to make this a non-issue, but spiritual integrity and commitment does extend to "the small issues" including not stealing from composers by using their work illegally. Copyright conformity is not just about conforming to some law, but also about stealing from our brothers and sisters. Composers usually don't earn much income, and using their "product" in a legal way provides for them the resources they need to keep composing, income they need and deserve to raise their families, etc. This is about relationships within the human family and specifically, those who are actually serving us and our music needs (whose faces we may never see). Actually, more and more churches are becoming more aware of these issues and are securing the CCLI or some other appropriate license to make sure everything's done properly.

 

I was the CCLI contact person in my church for several years, meaning I was responsible for seeing that our church conformed to the legal copyright guidelines, which we did through arrangement with CCLI. I needed to check song reproductions to make sure our CCLI license number was printed along with the copy of the lyrics, etc., as required.

 

If you're reproducing copyrighted lyrics in any form for the congregation to sing to, you do need a CCLI license. This goes for reproduction in the church bulletin, overheads, assembling them into book form, etc. If a song is copyrighted, both its music and its text are under copyright, even if it doesn't say specifically, "Lyrics copyright 1985" (for example). Public domain texts, such as the KJV version of the Bible, if lifted straight from the original and not adapted in any form, are not copyrighted.

 

From what you're describing, it appears to me as though you do need a CCLI license to cover your activities.

 

If the anthems you're mentioning are the choir anthems, and you're reproducing the text for the congregation to be able to silently follow along and see and understand (e.g., the choir is singing in German and you're printing the original German plus the English translation), CCLI doesn't cover this. I have been guilty of doing this, myself, without a thought as to copyright issues. Now, you're making me think! I imagine it might be wise to contact the publisher to discuss how they would like copyright matters to be handled under such circumstances. Perhaps they would be lenient and permissive because this is a church and not a concert. But, we probably shouldn't take this for granted; we should check.

 

Thanks for making me think about something I should have been more conscious of!

 

If the "anthems" are congregationally-sung songs, then yes, the CCLI or other similar license would be necessary if the lyrics are under copyright. And, unless the songs are old hymns, most likely, they're under copyright.

 

~Cherwyn

 

 

 

John,

 

Check out www.ccli.com.  Any time you reproduce lyrics that are under copyright, you absolutely need permission (either through CCLI or directly from the copyright holder).  The same holds true for reproducing music - you MUST have obtained permission.

 

In my opinion, this is a very serious matter that all church musicians need to be aware of.

 

There are a number of uses that CCLI does not cover.  The short and simple answer is that is allows reproduction ONLY for the congregation - not for the choir to sing from, and not for distribution to the general public.

 

Best,

Dan Kreider

Williston, VT

No law degree here, either, but I think I can add a bit of clarity to this issue. Yes, as long as the copyright owner of the anthem is included in the "catalogs" covered by CCLI, then a CCLI license would enable you to print the text of the anthem in the bulletin. Here's a link to CCLI's public "Song Search" page:

 

 

However, you may find that another service, OneLicense.net, covers the catalogs of more of the publishers of choral anthems. Here's a link to their Member Publishers page:

 

 

My church has both licenses. You'll find that CCLI doesn't cover some that OneLicense.net does and vice versa. For example, CCLI doesn't seem to cover publications from Augsburg Fortress, GIA, Hal Leonard, Walton Music, etc. Another service, LicenSingOnline.org, is also worth investigating, as they offer coverage for OCP, NALR, New Dawn, and others.

 

If in doubt, contact the copyright holder/publisher and ask. I had read elsewhere that the CCLI license doesn't allow for printing choral anthem texts in bulletins, but I called them twice this morning and spoke to two different representatives who both confirmed that it's allowed as long as the purpose is to enhance the worship experience (and as long as the works in question are published by copyright holders covered by the CCLI license).

 

Peace,

David Topping

Los Arcos UMC

Scottsdale, Arizona

Hi, John, and other colleagues.  Apologies that this is a kind of late reply to this thread.

 

Brigid wrote "unless those lyrics happen to be copyright by one of the publishers covered under CCLI.  Check the music; if the lyrics are specifically copyright, then you may need to address the issue."

 

What everyone needs to know is that under U.S. copyright law, copyright in a piece of music covers the music AND any associated lyrics.  Thus there is no need for a separate copyright notice.  The one exception would be, obviously, when the lyrics themselves are from an older, public domain poem.

 

Brigid (and at least one other) also said something about only needing a license "if you're reproducing lyrics or music for the congregation to sing."  That may be how the licenses read, but isn't what the LAW says.  One of the several rights reserved to the copyright owner is the right to "pulicly display" the copyrighted work.  It says nothing about HOW it is displayed, or how it is USED, or whether the congregation or anybody else sings from that display.  And it is NOT covered as an exemption under the Fair Use Guidelines.

 

Now I've never been involved with a church that used these licenses, so i don't know anything about them first hand, but I'm just a tad sensitive to statements about copyright that seem (to this musician who tries to keep up) to be at odds with the law or the Fair Use Guidelines.

 

All the best,

 

John