Earlier this month The Roanoke Times carried an article about the increasing popularity among churches of using video projection systems to put hymn lyrics on sanctuary screens or walls.
But be careful about buying one of the many software systems that such systems depend upon to provide the actual lyrics.

There are potential copyright pitfalls involving such software, according to CCLI, a copyright consulting company in Portland, Ore. A copyright, the federally-registered rights to printed material, covers hymns, even if they're on software.

The software seller should be able to certify that necessary clearances on the useage rights have been acquired and fees paid. And even if you don't buy software, but simply copy the lyrics on a computer yourself to project on a screen, you could still be violating federal copyright law, said Paul Herman, marketing manager fo CCLI.

For fees that vary with the number of hymns covered, CCLI and other companies can act as clearing houses to gain copyright permissions enmasse so the churches don't have to contact the publisher or composer of every hymn individually.

For more information on the fees and the law, check this Web site: CCLI.com/why.

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• Posted by Rob Johnson in Gospel musicGospel music ::
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Earlier this month The Roanoke Times carried an article about the increasing popularity among churches of using video projection systems to put hymn lyrics on sanctuary screens or walls.
But be careful about buying one of the many software systems that such systems depend upon to provide the actual lyrics.

There are potential copyright pitfalls involving such software, according to CCLI, a copyright consulting company in Portland, Ore. A copyright, the federally-registered rights to printed material, covers hymns, even if they're on software.

The software seller should be able to certify that necessary clearances on the useage rights have been acquired and fees paid. And even if you don't buy software, but simply copy the lyrics on a computer yourself to project on a screen, you could still be violating federal copyright law, said Paul Herman, marketing manager fo CCLI.

For fees that vary with the number of hymns covered, CCLI and other companies can act as clearing houses to gain copyright permissions enmasse so the churches don't have to contact the publisher or composer of every hymn individually.

For more information on the fees and the law, check this Web site: CCLI.com/why.

• Share this entry
  • Digg this entry
  • Mark in Ma.gnolia
  • Tag with del.icio.us
  • Seed Newsvine
  • Post to Google Base
  • Add to Yahoo!
  • Related at Technorati
• Posted by Rob Johnson in Gospel musicGospel music ::
• Permalink
• :: Comments (0)