To the right of this post is a link that says “Have a Question?” Our goal is to help you. If you have a question – please let us know!
The question was asked: We wish to get set-up so the worship choruses we put up on the overhead or computer are covered, that is we are not in danger of breaking copyright. What do you suggest we do? Are there websites for us to connect to, etc.?
ANSWER:
If you already have a CCLI License, please bear with me in this post. I will be reviewing all of CCLI’s main features — some of which you may be totally new to you.
Singing a song during church is covered under “Religious Exemptions.” What’s NOT covered is making copies of songs, projecting lyrics, copying lyrics (for anyone), or recording your band. The law of our land (that is, if you live in the United States) says that we must get the permission of the copyright owner before copying ANY of it or projecting the first lyric. So to be legal (and obedient to God), you really only have one reasonable option:
Purchase one single blanket license that covers everything: Church Copyright License International, or more commonly called CCLI.
Everything I’m about to say is spelled out in detail on the CCLI Website. But allow me to summarize the four main services CCLI has to offer. I use all four of these and highly recommend them.
CHURCH COPYRIGHT LICENSE (CCLI)
First question you’re probably asking is, “How much does it cost?” That depends on the size of your church.
1-24 …….. $52/year
25-99 …….$109/year
100-199….$185/year
Complete list found here.
With the CCLI License, you can print songs, copy and/or project lyrics, arrange the song however you want, and record your live music (you can even charge money for it). The complete list of what you can and cannot do is here.
You also have access to seeing CCLI’s “Top Songs” list. It can be helpful to see the top songs as you choose songs for your own church. It can be a real time saver to see what songs are helping other churches. You also have access to CCLITV, their free service with training videos. I repeat – FREE TRAINING VIDEOS. Good stuff too — like vocal coaching, guitar coaching, etc.
CHURCH VIDEO LICENSE (CVLI)
This is a blanket license similar to the song license, but it allows you to publicly show clips from popular movies, such as “Spiderman 3″, “The Matrix” or “Braveheart.” Full details are here. Pricing details are here.
SONG SELECT
In my perspective, this is one of the greatest assets to worship ministry that is so often untapped! This is going to blow your mind – Song Select Lyric service provides the following for most of their songs:
1) Lead Sheets, Chord Charts, and Vocal (Hymn-style) printable charts. And get this – its entirely transposable. You name the key and BAM – its transposed! That simple! Its the greatest tool ever!
2) Lyrics. Sick of typing lyrics into PowerPoint? Stop. Seriously. Knock it off. Song Select has lyrics inserted and you can cut and paste. Or if you you’re using a program like EasyWorship or ProPresenter, you can import the lyrics from Song Select directly from the presentation program.
3) Sound Samples. Many songs have sound samples to help you confirm your choices.
Order it here.
SCREENVUE
This service helps you link up clips from famous movies with religious topics. Instead of searching through movies to find a clip to illustrate your point, let Screenvue match it up for you. For example, let’s say your pastor wants to preach on “Healing.” Searching Screenvue brings up clip results from Forrest Gump, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, X-Men Wolverine, and more. Each clip idea contains clip length, cue marker start and stop times (for the DVD), and a description of the clip.
For other copyright needs, such as a video sync license, selling a CD project, and a performance license, I recommend working with Christian Copyright Solutions, www.CopyrightSolver.com. CCS works with a CCLI license, not against it. If you ever work with them – tell them Adam Diehl sent you… maybe I’ll get something for free 
Comment By: CopyrightSolver
March 2nd, 2010 at 3:34 pm
Hi Adam. Thanks for the great info and the mention.
There are implications for putting your lyrics on screens if you intend to webcast your services.
The issue is addressed in this article on webcasting your services
http://www.copyrightsolver.com
Comment By: Chris Lydle
July 12th, 2011 at 1:54 pm
Great article, Adam. Thanks for sharing the facts!