Projecting movie clips or song lyrics through multimedia systems helps many Alabama Baptist congregations enhance worship services and make Bible study more effective. While experts say that this practice can be effective in reaching a broader audience, they advise church leaders to secure proper permission before using any creative work.
“In terms of the federal copyright law, the person that owns a copyright by nature of the copyright has five rights: print rights, distribution rights, derivative rights, recording rights and performance rights,” said Doug Rogers, coordinator of communications services for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions. “You break a copyright law when you infringe on any of those rights without permission from the owner.”
Rogers added that anytime churches break the law by copying music sheets, showing video tapes in any public situation or projecting lyrics of any song or other medium without the owner’s permission, they are subject to stiff penalties.
“The law provides for the owner of a copyright to recover damages ranging from $500 to $100,000 per infringement,” he said. “If willful infringement is proved, criminal fines of up to $250,000 and/or five years of imprisonment may apply. A church in Chicago was ordered to pay $190,400 for violating copyright laws.”
Besides the legal ramifications of copyright violations, Rogers advises churches to take their moral responsibilities seriously.
“When you break a copyright law you are robbing someone else of the rights they have to their creative work,” he said. “We ought to set the standards of obeying the law.”
Legal protections
Rogers urges churches to protect themselves with licensing.
“As a convention we are covered by CCLI (Christian Copyright Licensing International) as well as CVLI (Christian Video Licensing International), but each church in the state is free to make its own decision about using their services,” he said. “The only other option a church has is to work individually with publishers or producers for specific needs they might have. Licenses make it more convenient.
Through CCLI, churches can legally reproduce song lyrics in various situations including reprinting songs and hymns in bulletins, projecting lyrics on video screens and recording worship services with live music. However, the license does not give churches permission to make copies of song sheets for choir use, Rogers said.
“You need to buy enough copies of the songbook for your choir to use,” he stated. “If you make 250 copies of one book you have taken away the right of the musician, composer and publisher, to make a living off that music.”
When using video clips, CVLI licenses give churches legal access to video titles from more than 70 producers, Rogers noted.
“Many people do not take seriously the FBI warning at the beginning of a video or DVD,” he said. “The warning limits the video for personal home use even if you own the video. Your purchase of a video does not come with permission for a public performance of the program.
“In other words, even if a church owns a video they don’t have the right to show it to youth group and day care,” he said. “Violations can result in fines up to $20,000 per infringement.”
For more information on copyright laws, Rogers recommends “The Church Guide to Copyright Law, Third Edition” by Richard R. Hammar, www.churchlawtoday.com or 1-800-222-1840.
To contact Rogers about leading a copyright awareness conference, call 1-800-264-1225, Ext. 319.
To purchase a CCLI license, call 1-800-234-2446 or visit www.ccli.com. For a CVLI license, call 1-888-771-2854 or visit www.cvli.org.
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