Can I see your License, please?

We've all done it: violoated copyright law. Most of us without knowing it.

More often than not, the key thing people aren't aware of in music ministry is how to manage copyrights and make sure that they are legal. They don't understand the differnces between a mechanical reproduction and performance rights. Here's the skinny on what I've come to understand as what we all need to know.

The FIRST thing you need to know is that I am not a lawyer, nor have I ever played one on T.V. I am not offering legal advice and this article should not be construed as such.

Here are the types of licenses / rights you need to be concerned with:

• Performance rights - the right to perform a piece of music
• Mechanical royalties - the right to mechanically reproduce a perforance of a piece of music
• Reprint license - the right to mechanically reproduce printed music

I'll go through each of this as suscinctly as I can:

Performance Rights

In the United States, when used for a worship service, no performance royalties can be collected. However, when broadcast or played for any other situation (concerts, etc.) performance royalties of the song are due to the songwriter. This is paid by the venue (i.e. bar, coffee shop, concert hall) to the Performance Rights Organization (i.e. ASCAP, BMI, SESAC) in order to pay the songwriters and their publisher. The performer is required to turn in a songlist to the venue, and the venue is required to submit the songlist (with composers) over to their Performance Rights Organization.

In practice, this rarely happens in small clubs and venues. Same with college radio. Larger companies like ClearChannel-run radio do actually turn these over and people do actually get paid for their work.

Again, this royalty is not owed the songwriter when a song is used for worship. But publishers and songwriters have other means of getting paid for their work.

Mechanical Royalties

Mechanical royalties are due a company when a work of theirs is reproduced in any means. For example: copying a CD, or a tape.

When your singing group makes a recording of a song, they must pay the songwriter* a statutory rate of $0.08** per song produced. For small runs of privately funded CD's, a more low-cost fee may be reached, but it is your duty to contact the publisher to get permission and pay their fee.

*songwriter and their publisher, actually

** this may be out of date.

Reprint License

THIS IS THE THING that as a music minister, YOU REALLY NEED TO KNOW.

• A reprint license grants you (most often) the right to make copies of the lyrics of a song to be consumed by a large number of people for public performace (like at mass). This applies to song sheets and overheads.
• It does NOT grant you the right to copy sheet music. (With notes.)

The sad news that you probably don't want to hear is that there is almost no legal way to license music to make tons of copies for your 300 member choir and accompanying orchestra. The cost per sheet is roughly equal to that of what the publisher would charge you anyway - so just buy the sheet music.

In order for your favorite artist to get paid so they can buy food (and I know quite a few good artists that have trouble affording FOOD), you must turn in your songlist quarterly. The funds that you surrendered at the beginning of the year will be distributed to the songwriter and publisher based on their percentage of the total amount of songs paid for in the year.

Penalties

You're going to love this. Copyright infringement is a simple calculation: lost revenue x 3. That's right - TRIPPLE DAMAGES. And the law doesn't care if you're doing the Lord's work.

This is a vast, vast, vast over simplification of licensing and is by no means complete or definitive. It is however BRIEF.

God bless you in your ministry.