Fair Use of Intellectual Property in Faith Communities

The first encounter that I had with creative licenses was back in College when I was on Chapel Staff.  We would plan worship and use the Chapel's CCLI  (Christian Copyright Licensing International) account to select songs.  Many faith communities prefer to do this because it takes away the administrative nightmare of obtaining usage rights.  I did a little research on this, and the licensing fee is $261 for a basic license for a congregation between 200-500 people.  It goes up quickly from there.  This must be renewed on an annual basis.  In congregations with tight budgets, this is an expense that probably is considered frivolous.

In traditional Lutheran Congregations, we do not spend much time thinking about creative use because we have hymnals in which all the legal legwork has already been done for us.  But faith communities that want to reframe how worship is done together need to be aware of the potential ethical and legal implications.  Artists/Composers deserve to be fairly compensated for their creative contributions.  It is their life's work and livelihood and I don't think anyone would argue that point.

There are a variety of copyright issues at play, no doubt compounded by our culture's litigious attitude.  Americans (or westerners in general) believe they have a God-given right to financial compensation if they suffer any losses or potential losses.  Fair use refers to the use of copyrighted material without permission under some circumstances, especially when the social benefits of the specific use are predominant.  It is debatable as to whether or not worship resources fall under fair use.  In the digital context, the potential for improper dissemination of intellectual property is far greater than a music director copying hymn sheets in the church office.  We literally cannot afford to be sloppy in citing where we obtain our music/photographs/ etc.  So we need to do everything in our power to properly obtain usage rights and sometimes that means purchasing a CCLI (or similar) license.  

But better yet, why don't congregations encourage their members to make their own creative contributions?  My home congregation in Denver has several professional photographers who use their gifts for publicity, graphic designers who made the church logo and publications, and other artists who contribute their gifts as a tithe to the church or for a very nominal fee.  My teaching congregation here in St Paul has set aside a line item in the budget to support artists in residence who sign up to coordinate worship music for an entire liturgical season and are compensated for original songs that they compose for the worshipping community.  The Church of the Beloved in Edmunds, WA has produced their own  musical album with worship resources, which is fantastic and nurtures the gifts of their own members.