For churches, copyright is the “right thing to do”
- May 1, 2007 - comment
PORTLAND, Ore.—“Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.”
That’s five years in a federal prison and a $250,000 fine … for illegally copying music without permission or for showing videos and movies without authorization.
That’s a hefty price for a well-intentioned church to pay.
It’s very easy to pass over this FBI Anti-Piracy Warning posted at the beginning of DVDs and on musical works. But the question remains. Do churches take heed to it?
Federal Copyright Law prohibits the unauthorized copying of “original works of authorship” (including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic and certain other intellectual works). Ethically, owners of copyrighted material are entitled to the fruits of their labors, hence copyright protection for original works is fair and right.
Churches often face copyright infringement issues in two vital areas: copying music without permission, and showing videos/movies without authorization.
“But there is a way for churches to take advantage of these musical and video offerings,” said Paul Herman, marketing manager for Christian Copyright Licensing, International (CCLI) and Christian Video Licensing International (CVLI).
CCLI and CVLI provide practical licensing solutions in both areas. In short, what the organization offers is “blanket coverage,” shares Herman.
For an annual license fee, a church receives legal authorization to copy from over 150,000 songs for congregational use.
A separate annual video license option covers over 100 movie producers, including big-name studios. Both fees are based are church size.
“It’s the right thing to do. It is more cost effective than going one by one to seek permission from each producer,” he affirms.
Herman notes that many churches believe that their non-profit status gives them permission to use copyrighted work.
“The law is still the law no matter who the group is,” he clarifies. “The creative work is still owned by those who developed the work.”
But rather than being seen as a company that “puts the hammer down” on offending churches, CCLI and CVLI provide services as a friend to the church, Herman stresses.
“Our aim has always been to provide services to facilitate worship, benefiting the churches, while at the same time also benefiting the copyright owners.”
Herman points to the origin of the Church Copyright License service, which was birthed in the music department of Bible Temple in Portland, Ore. In 1984, the church’s pastor first became aware of the Copyright Law and a pending $3.1 million lawsuit against the Archdiocese in Chicago. He asked his music minister, Howard Rachinski, to see what could be done about the copyright crisis. In January 1985, Howard began to develop a “permission of use” concept, whereby churches could obtain blanket permission for specific copying activities, which he labeled “non-commercial.” It was called Starpraise Ministries and was to be CCLI’s predecessor.
By the end of the first year, 250 churches had become license holders. By the end of the second year, 1,150 churches had become members. It became obvious that the need for a church copyright license affected more than just a few churches and publishers.
Now, CCLI provides a blanket license for more than 170,000 churches, granting them permission to use songs in their program for five specific activities including, printing songs in bulletins, liturgies, programs and songsheets; printing songs in bound or unbound songbooks compiled by the church; making overhead transparencies, slides, or to utilize electronic storage and retrieval methods for visual projection of songs; printing customized vocal and/or instrumental arrangements of the songs, where no published version is available; and recording songs in church worship services by either audio or audiovisual means.
For an additional fee, churches can take advantage of four different SongSelect subscription options, which offer worship leaders the ability to print and download lyrics from over 90,000 songs in the CCLI database, listen to thousands of 30-second sound samples, print and download lead sheets, hymn sheets and chord sheets, or use the SongSelect’s web player to transpose songs as needed.
Also, CCLI has joined with Motion Picture Licensing Corporation (MPLC) to form CVLI, providing the Church Video License for churches and other ministry organizations who show videos and DVDs in a public setting. Two packages are offered: the Family Values Producer Package, which covers videos and movies focused on religious and family-based themes, and the Total Producer Package, which also covers many big-name studios like Universal Pictures, Warner Brothers, Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone, Paramount, DreamWorks, and Fox.
To further assist churches in choosing appropriate video illustrations, CVLI offers ScreenVue, which provides access to online downloads of major movie scenes and other movie scenes from Christian and independent producers, as well as online access to hundreds of scene ideas, categorized by theme, for major movies that churches purchase or rent. Another ScreenVue package also offers movie scenes from Christian and independent producers, sent every 90 days on DVD/CD-ROM.
For more information on all these offerings as well as license fees and guidelines, visit online at www.ccli.com and www.cvli.org.
This article is reprinted from the May 2007 issue of Baptist LIFE, the newsjournal of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware.
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