Christians and Copyright

tagged: Church, Guest Authors

Christians and Copyright

Bernard Shuford is a regular reader and commenter here at sbc IMPACT! He claims that he is just a hillbilly redneck of sorts who dreams of becoming the radical Christian that God demands. He works a full-time job as an Automation Engineer, managing, sometimes designing, sometimes programming, and sometimes getting really dirty during the building of custom manufacturing equipment, primarily for the tire industry.

Bernard is the pianist at Crossroads Missionary Baptist Church, in Clyde, NC, where he also serves on the Board of Directors and as the Assistant Sunday School Director. He is blessed to be husband to Karma and father-in-training to Travis and Kristi, age 6 and 3. In April of 2007, at age 38, he underwent full-blown open heart surgery to repair a very large Atrial Septal Defect.

Bernard maintains that most things about real faith and genuine belief are not easy. In fact, real faith cannot be tested until it encounters difficulty.

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I’ve been frustrated by a lot of things at church. I’ve even been frustrated by a lot of things ABOUT church. I’ve been frustrated by church people. I’ve been frustrated by church doctrine. I’ve been frustrated by church traditions. I’ve even been frustrated by ignorance in the church.

Lately, however, I’ve been extremely frustrated by the law.

As a precursor, let me explain that I strongly support the concept of the oxen being fed while they tread out the corn. I have absolutely no problem with copyright owners being properly compensated for the use of the works that they have created. I fully support the law that requires the permission of the copyright holder before copies of any type of copyrighted work are made. As a musician and a photographer, I understand the importance of properly compensating the creator of a work for its usage, in whatever form.

However, there are complications and frustrations to implementing that.

Copyright applies to many different facets of church life, but it primarily affects the music department. As a secondary area, it sometimes shows up in Sunday School or Bible study teaching situations. It is becoming more and more of an issue with video becoming an important part of services.

I suspect a lot of other Christians are frustrated by copyright law. It’s a complicated thing, and there usually aren’t any “simple” solutions.

Copyright compliance, to be blunt, is aggravating and it costs money. Depending on the nature of the church, it may cost a little money, or it may cost a lot of money. Many church members don’t know the real nature of copyright law, and thus are very hesitant to “spend God’s money” to comply. In my “neck of the woods”, the church copier is probably the perpetrator of as much illegal activity as the local drug dealer, simply because so few parishioners understand.

I’m quite sure that most of the regular contributors to this blog understand that it’s illegal to copy music without a license to do so. I’m sure that most, if not all, of you are aware of CCLI licenses that are available for a very reasonable cost, but CCLI offers licenses for copies made for congregational use only. CCLI cannot license copies which are made for use by a choir, a soloist, or a performance group of any sort. In other words, there’s a significant difference in making written copies or projections of lyrics for CONGREGATIONAL use and doing the same thing for PERFORMANCE use. A “performance” is a situation where the AUDIENCE is not involved in the singing of the song. CCLI does not cover copies for performance.

Churches are exempted from “performance rights” payments in normal church services. This is due to a copyright exemption that is specifically laid out in the law for “performance of copyrighted religious music during the course of a religious service”. However, there are some “special events” that are not exempted. This can extend to youth events, business functions, brotherhood meetings, and other church related events that are not specifically “religious services”. There is some question as to how this technically applies to weddings, in that the wedding ceremony is often a religious service, but the reception is not, which means that musicians and artists performing at a reception are not exempted from copyright law compliance.

Video and slideshows often present a problem. It is easy to obtain software which allows using pre-recorded, legally purchased music as a soundtrack for a slideshow or video. EVEN FOR A RELIGIOUS SERVICE, without permission from the copyright owner, this is illegal.

There are several sites with highly researched information about this out there. I really recommend you read the following if this whole thing of “copyright” strikes a chord with you.

* Copyright Law and Church Conferences
* Kopyrite
* United Methodist General Board of Discipleship

It is very important, in my opinion, for churches to work hard to be in compliance with copyright law. First, it’s part of our testimony. We don’t need to cheat anyone – the government, the artists, or the musicians – if we want to proclaim the message of Christ. We don’t need to cut corners to save dollars. As well, there are significant fines to be incurred if a church is found to be in willful violation. However, it takes a committment to that “ideal” and a church that understands the necessary expense as a part of ministry.

I do not know of any “help” that is available from the SBC for churches that are trying to comply with copyright law. My opinion is that the SBC, due to the complex nature of copyright compliance, would be doing a great service for member churches if they would implement a licensing agency to simplify the situation for small churches that don’t have the resources to devote to compliance. I believe it’s very necessary, and it would be effective and helpful even if it cost the church money to be a participant.

Some commonly known resources are…

* CCLI
* OneLicense
* Church Copyright Administration
* LicenSing
* Harry Fox Agency (for making mechanical copies – recordings)

So what about YOUR church? How much does copyright compliance cost you on an annual basis? Is this an area in which most Southern Baptist churches do a good job of maintaining a good testimony?

Tim Rogers says:

February 16, 2008 at 8:23 am

Brother Bernard,

Great information. Have you double-checked as to the prospect that the SBC does not supply the licensing help to small churches? I know that we use CCLI. Of course, after reading this article I need to go and apologize to my music director for copying songs for the choir to sing one Sunday. But, I digress.

You have certainly given some great information and a possible motion that would be very helpful to churches of any size if the SBC would involve itself in the licensing agreement business.

Blessings,
Tim

Tony Sisk says:

February 16, 2008 at 8:58 am

Bernard,

Great post. I think you should write more for us!

Those copyright laws are a bane, that is for sure. I don’t know if a motion on the floor at the SBC could help with this, but it could certainly be something that could be pursued at the associational level. Are multi-church use licenses available, say if several small churches (100 in attendance or less) wanted to purchase the one license for all to use?

Also, if I understand correctly, the license itself does not cover reproduced music, only the reproduction of the words themselves in a bulletin or projected on a screen, right? It does not give a church the right to copy music, does it?

Music can get very expensive very quickly and to maintain freshness new music is needed every service. If I understand correctly, one book is needed per choir member. For small churches like most of us serve that can become cost-prohibitive very quickly.

Guy Muse says:

February 16, 2008 at 9:26 am

This is a topic that has long been a source of frustration to me as well.

As a missionary, we live in a country in S. America where little regard is given to copyright laws of any kind. It is hard to find originals of anything, but “illegal” copies are available everywhere. Since nobody here seems bothered by it, and the few existing laws are seldom enforced, the adage “when in Rome do as the Romans” has tended to be our practice as well.

I recently blogged on this topic myself asking the question, Is breaking the law always a sin? If you have ever driven 40mph in a 20mph school zone, you have BROKEN THE LAW, but is it a SIN? There are many laws that are set up for the good of society. If we are going to break them, yes, we have to be willing to face the consequences. But to me, breaking copyright laws doesn’t always mean I have sinned against the Lord. I don’t confess in prayer to the Lord my having run off 15 song sheets (without the due copyright permissions) for our prayer gathering tomorrow.

I know I am in the minority, but copyright laws in the USA have gotten to the point of the absurd. There are so many laws and rules about using copyrighted material that few people–including Christians–can honestly claim they uphold the law.

My own (flawed) rule of thumb is that as long as I am not making money off of someone else’s material, or trying to pass it off as my own, it is OK to use it–especially as it relates for ministry purposes. We are not “owners” of anything. Everything we have comes from above–”Freely you have received, freely give.”

I realize there has to be some kind of parameters, but the existing exagerated copyright laws in the USA are far from binding on the rest of the world. How can we continue to charge $18.99 for a book, or $15 for a Christian music CD, and expect our brothers who make $4/day to abide by copyright laws? I submit the greater sin is expecting our brothers to pay those kinds of prices! Especially when those materials are intended to build up the Body of Christ, not serve as a money-making venture.

OK, I’m ready to receive correction from all who are “without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone!”