Copyright is the ownership of an original creative expression such as literature, music, visual art or anything else that the human mind can create and record in a fixed medium. A copyright gives the owner the exclusive right to reproduce, perform, publish, display or distribute the work. The copyright owner may give away, sell, lose or license any of these rights, either temporarily or permanently.
Copyright infringement is considered a type of theft and can result in criminal penalties. Many aspects of local church ministries touch on copyright issues. The law allows free use of copyrighted works in some religious or educational contexts. However, many uses still incur obligation to the copyright owner even though they occur in church or under church auspices. Here are some practical factors to consider:
Sabbath School and Worship Services
Although, many traditional hymns have passed into the public domain and are no longer subject to copyright, contemporary music, including reworkings of traditional pieces, almost always is protected by copyright. The law specifically exempts from copyright liability a live performance during a religious service. However, that exemption does not cover ancillary activities such as the copying and distribution of song sheets or the projection on a viewing screen of song lyrics, readings, or other works. The unauthorized copying of significant portions of a hymnal would also be an infringement because the hymnal itself enjoys copyright protection as a compilation, regardless of the status of individual works within the hymnal. Local churches can purchase a blanket license to cover many such uses from an organization called Christian Copyright Licensing International. They can be contacted at (800) 234-2446.
Bulletins and Newsletters
Be sure that the art used on bulletin covers has been properly licensed. Most commercially prepared bulletin stock will come with adequate safeguards for the cover art. In any printed matter, take care to avoid extensive quotations from copyrighted sources unless you have the copyright owner's permission. A short passage may qualify as a "fair use," for which there would not be liability. However, the question of when an excerpt becomes too long for "fair use" is complex and requires careful analysis.
Broadcast Ministries
A broadcast is a "performance" under copyright law. The radio or TV station will have primary responsibility to the copyright owner for such a performance, but the program producer shares in that responsibility. Stations generally have blanket licenses from ASCAP and BMI to cover the broadcast of music. However, program producers should avoid long passages of quoting or copying from a nonmusical work which is not covered by the station's blanket license. Such licenses also do not cover the reproduction and distribution to the public of taped copies of programs. Copyrighted material in the program would be subject to liability for copying and/or distribution — whether or not a fee is charged for the tape.
On-line Ministries
Posting web site material on a world wide web site is "publication" for purposes of copyright law, and results in copyright liability. ASCAP and BMI sell blanket music licenses to web site owners, which cover most music. For all other copyrighted works, the site proprietor should either obtain permission or restrict the use to a "fair use."
At the time this article was written, Donald Martin was a communications and media attorney in the Washington, D.C. area. He is a graduate of Columbia Union College and a former general manager of CUC's FM radio station, WGTS. He assists clients nation-wide in broadcasting and media matters such as FCC licensing, copyrights and trademarks. Martin has advised and/or represented many Adventist media ministries; the General Conference, unions and conferences in media matters; and laymen with independent media projects.
Martin published a monthly newsletter, "ANTENNA," about current events and issues in the field of broadcast law.
