Not just about litigation: Singing Justly, Living Justly - copyright Law

A pastoral musician filled in for a vacationing pastoral minister for a funeral. The family asked for a hymn that the vacationing musician did not leave in the prepared portfolio on the organ for the visiting musician. The per diem musician opened the music file cabinet to search for the requested piece of music. The whole file cabinet was filled with copied music; the visiting musician could find not one copy of a piece of purchased music within its contents. The entire music program of the parish, which included several choirs and a fleet of cantors survived on illegally copied music. 

True story.What's wrong with this picture? 

Pastoral musicians and ecclesial ministers always want to do the right thing. Sometimes doing the right thing means taking the time to read the fine print in the contracts we sign so that we can stay within legal boundaries and continue our pastoral work on behalf of God’s people justly, with honesty and integrity. This issue is not only about possible litigation. We cannot sing about justice if we do not live justly. Period.  

Over the years, different questions regarding copyright law and music usages ricochet like a game of round robin. Practical information is always useful, particularly for pastoral leaders who lead others to live justly by example. This blog addresses copyright law with regard to annual musical worship aids and worship aids published by a parish or diocese.

Do I have to replace my annual music worship aids every year? Yes. When you pay for a subscription, the terms of use require that you disposal of the annual (key word) hymnals and renew with new ones each year. The subscription contributes to just royalty payments for composers and copyright holders for that one year of use only. Recycle the old; buy new.

My softcover yearly hymnals (missalettes) are in great shape. Can I get a license to use them for another year? No. Licenses may not be obtained to continue the use of outdated materials.

Suppose my parish cannot afford new hymnals each year? Consider no worship aid in the pews. Would your community notice the absence of their annual worship aids on Sunday morning or for major celebrations? Might they consider donating anything they could offer, great or small, to restore the worship aids into the pews? Does your community value musical worship?  

Can I print just the lyrics in a program? No. You must provide the entire piece of music, which includes the composer, copyright holder and title of the song. On line programs such as Print and Praise www.printandpraise.com (OCP), Hymnprint www.hymnprint.net (GIA) and Click and Print http://www.wlp.jspaluch.com/click_print.htm (WLP) all provide online and downloadable resources in Tif, Gif and PDF formats. You may subscribe yearly for access to any of these resources or purchase single editions for one time usage.  

Do I need to buy a license to print these songs in a worship aid in addition to the purchase of the piece? Yes. Copyright law requires a license to gain permission to publish your own worship aid. Licensing, OneLicense, World Library Reprint License (see websites below) all offer license assistance.

Do I report usage for the hymns I use in a worship aid? Yes. Under the terms of all licenses, Reporting hymn usage informs the companies so that composers and authors are compensated fairly. How can we sing justice if we do not live justly?

How can I find out more about copyright issues? For more information regarding copyright law and annual or self published worship aids, go to http://www.wlp.jspaluch.com/3396.htm, https://www.licensingonline.org/en-us,http://www.onelicense.net/how_it_works.cfm andhttp://www.denisemorencygannon.org/musician-and-copyright-info/. These websites offer valuable, practical information regarding copyright law, usage, permissions and pricing.

For inspiration, you might want to read my article If You Want to Sing Justice, Live Justly, published by The National Association of Pastoral Musician’s Pastoral Music Magazine, August-September 2003, Volume 27: 6. © 2003. Reprinted with Permission. http://www.denisemorencygannon.org/how-do-we-live-what_blog/     

Comments

[Denise Morency Gannon]

More than a few people commented through Facebook and email messages on what they consider common practice with regard to copied music. A pastoral musician who serves as the musician for funerals in a number of parishes told me that he finds copied music in 6 out of ten parishes that he visits. He feels that the reason is budget; parishes do not feel that they can "afford" to purchase music.
On the other hand, the same musician also shared that some parishes take up second collections several times a year to cover the costs of music expenditures.
We have a long way to go in the way of just practices and fiscal responsibility, particularly when the Arts are concerned. Make no mistake: the practice of copied music is widespread and continued education in this regard is as important now as it was when the pastoral music industry began its ministry in the sixties. We're better at what we do but far from where we need to be in just practices.