Copyright Licensing overview for church leadersihp.

[Arlin]

I am working through a BUNCH of copyright issues and options for our church, and working on a presentation for our elders & deacons to explain our options.

Could someone give the following a review and make sure I have my information straight? Thanks.

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There are two licenses available to help churches legally webcast their services:

Webcast License Option #1:
Church Streaming and Podcast License from Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI)
Cost: $75 per year for church size 200-499. $100 per year for church size 500-999 persons.
Covered songs: Over 200,000 songs are covered, representing the vast majority of Christian songs sung in worship services. Secular songs not covered.
Events covered: Limited to Worship Services only. (concerts, youth gatherings, weddings, VBS, etc are NOT covered).

Webcast License Option #2:
WorsihpCast License from Christian Copyright Solutions (CCS)
Cost: $500 per year for church size 1-499. $925 per year for church size 500+
Covered songs: Over 16,000,000 Christian AND secular songs. (just about anything and everything)
Events covered: Just about any event can be webcast. Not limited to Worship Services only.

What both webcast options DO cover:
Your PERFORMANCE of the covered songs can be broadcast live or recorded.

What both options DO NOT cover:
Broadcast of any pre-recorded & copyrighted music including accompaniment music. You cannot broadcast copyrighted CD or tape recordings.
Broadcast of any copyrighted lyrics. (CCLI license covers copying & showing lyrics in church, on screen, but does not cover broadcast.)
Broadcast of copyrighted images.
Broadcast of copyrighted video. (CVLI license covers showing video in church, on screen, but does not cover broadcast.)

For any music that is played and performed by a person at ARC, compliance is actually quite simple. Just choose one of the options above and we are good.
HOWEVER
These 'blanket' licenses only cover performances of copyrighted music that WE PERFORM LIVE. It DOES NOT cover copyrighted music recorded by others that we play back. Thus, any CDs, tapes, videos, etc. are not covered. In order to legally cover those items, we would need to get permission and possibly pay royalties to the recording’s owner, usually the performing artist or their record label. Since there is no available blanket license to cover these recordings, we would need to contact each recording's owner and get their permission on an individual basis. (The PERMISSIONSplus License Service might be able to help with this, but I am not sure.)

Other copyright license service we may need:
Church Copyright License (CCLI): Allows songs to be copied and distributed for congregational singing only (words on the screen). $245 per year for church size 200-499. $345 per year for church size 500-999. Also allows services to be recorded (but not broadcast) for shut-in ministry. Also, any recordings can not include copyrighted music we play from a recording made by someone else.
Church Video License (CVLI): Allows whole movies & clips of movies to be shown on premise (no recordings or webcasts allowed). $199 per yer for church size 200-499. $280 per year for church size 500-999.
CCLI Church Rehearsal License: Allows making copies of recorded audio music (not sheet music) for rehearsal purposes. Cost depends on number of copies made each year (I think it is estimated in advance).
PERFORMmusic License: Allows performances of live and pre-recorded music outside of religious worship service. $280 per year for church size 200-499. $520 per year for church size 500-1,999.
PERMISSIONSplus License Service: Not a license, but a service in which we pay this company to get the permission to use copyrighted works in our own CDs, DVDs, photocopies, downloads, web sites, etc. for you. Cost is based on labor credits PLUS any royalty fees.