Think about this term: worship industry.
Hm.
Seems a little… “icky,” right?
Actually, a more apt descriptor would be “sticky”—because the “worship industry” covers and comes in contact with all sorts of areas of life, business, and the law.
For churches—especially those in the U.S.—you have to meet the demands of three parties:
The congregation—are they singing music they appreciate?
The songwriters/publishers—are they receiving proper recognition and compensation?
The government—are you following regulations that act in fairness to churches, songwriters, and publishers?
Most churches do well regarding the first point; their sanctuaries are filled with choruses of voices united in melodies and words.
But many of those same churches fly under the radar when it comes to the last two points.
Let’s clear up what you can and cannot do with music at your church.
(Just to be clear: This information comes from my own experience, but is not legal advice. Before you make any decisions, consult a legal professional or a licensing agency representative.)
What Is a License?
In short, a performance license grants you permission to publicly perform and/or distribute music that is owned by someone else. Most organizations, like CCLI and MultiTracks, charge an annual or monthly fee to have access to a defined catalogue of songs for you to use at your church. As the user, you are required to report your usage so the licensing agency can distribute the necessary royalties to the copyright holders.
Do I Need a License Just to Sing Songs?
The answer: yes and no.
It comes down to a couple of things:
When you’re singing.
What you’re singing.
Under U.S. copyright law, you don’t need a license for public domain works or for copyrighted songs performed exclusively for worship services. On one hand, it’s pretty simple: As long as your performance of the song is within a recognized worship service, you don’t need a license, regardless of its status as a copyrighted work or within the public domain.
What is the public domain, anyway? Under U.S. copyright law, there are various categories that determine if a creative work falls into public domain:
Works after 1978: Copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years. For works created anonymously, pseudonymously, or as a "work for hire," it lasts 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.
Works from 1929–1977: These generally have a copyright term of 95 years from their original publication date.
Works before 1929: These works are securely in the public domain, though the exact cutoff updates annually on January 1st.
Sound recordings are treated differently, but from a copyright standpoint, they’re considered more of a “mechanical work,” rather than an intellectual idea. Still, with the idea being there (the arrangement of melodies and lyrics), it straddles the line between “sound recording” and a “composition.” And if you’re going to distribute sound recordings and sheet music to your musicians for rehearsal purposes, then you need a license.
This brings us to how the ideas are presented, mainly in print or projected on a screen. Generally, if you’re singing form a hymnal, then you’re good. The right to perform that copyrighted music from that specific publication is included in the sale to the church.
But if you print lyrics, sheet music, or display them on a screen, then you need a license (unless you otherwise have express permission from the copyright holder).
Given that most churches are singing songs that have been written within the last 40 years, plus some public domain hymns, here are your options:
Worship-service only (just singing/playing, no printed music): no license needed
Read music from hymnal: no license needed (generally)
Perform or distribute music outside worship service: need a license
Display on-screen music/lyrics, or on self-published print materials (bulletins, binders, etc.): need a license
Do I Have to Perform the Song Exactly as It Was Written?
The answer (you guessed it): yes and no.
In general, you MUST stay faithful to the original melody and lyrics. The only exceptions are:
Improvised embellishments on the melody.
Pronoun changes (singular vs. plural).
Modal interchange of a melody (putting a major melody into a minor variation, etc.).
Medleys of two or more tunes performed in a unique arrangement.
Otherwise, you have to keep the song the way it was originally intended to sound, strictly speaking of melodies and words. I often come up against churches that want to change words they don’t like, for various theological or aesthetic preferences.
I’ll be blunt: Don’t do this. Unless you have permission from the copyright holder, you cannot legally change lyrics beyond what I listed above. The solution is to SING. A. DIFFERENT. SONG.
OK—How Do I Keep Track of All This?
This one used to be pretty tedious. Up until recent years, churches had to manually report their song usage in all instances to their respective agency partners, but nowadays, much of that is automated.
If you use a platform like ProPresenter, you can integrate your licensing provider into that program to auto-report your song usage. This keeps things really simple, but it doesn’t work if you don’t utilize the program for a performance that requires reporting.
Still, it’s a good idea to keep track of your usage; platforms like Planning Center or Subsplash can help you maintain those records by simply building service plans with your songs entered within.
The Theology Behind It
Aside from the obvious ethical considerations to properly license and perform music written by others for your church, there’s a theological implication.
In Romans, the apostle Paul makes the argument that obedience to the civil magistrate is divinely appointed, and most Christians generally understand that unless those in power (governors, judges, council members = “the civil magistrate”) coerce you into sinning, you are to obey the law of the land.
So this means that “dotting your ‘I’s” and “crossing your ‘T’s” is more than just making sure you’re staying in line and respecting the system…
It’s really a form of faithfulness to the Lord over ALL of it.
Be blessed 👊✌️
Derek is the founder and director of Worship Strategies and is also Creative Ministries Director Faith Family Church in Fayette, MO. Outside of ministry, he is active as a musician and entrepreneur. He is married to his wife Kaitlynn, and they have two beautiful daughters.
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