“Does the CCLI license cover… ?”   “What about …?”  

Even CCLI license holders are sometimes confused about what the Church Copyright License does and does not cover. We’ve hosted classes and workshops for years at worship conferences across the country, and we never cease to be amazed at the wide variety of questions regarding church music copying activities. 

What’s Covered
Here’s the most important thing to remember about the CCLI Church Copyright License: it is primarily designed to assist with congregational singing. To that end, here is a quick summary of what the license covers:

What You Can Do

1. Print songs, hymns and lyrics in bulletins, programs, liturgies and song sheets for use in congregational singing.
2. Create your own customized songbooks or hymnals for use in congregational singing.
3. Create overhead transparencies, slides, computer graphics, or any other format whereby song lyrics are visually projected for use in congregational singing.
4. Arrange, print and copy your own arrangements (vocal and instrumental) of songs used for congregational singing, where no published version is available.
5. Record your worship services (audio or video) provided you only record live music. Accompaniment tracks cannot be reproduced. You may charge up to $4 each for audiocassette tapes and CDs ($5 in Canada), and $12 each for videotapes and DVDs ($15 in Canada).

Point 5 is the only slight variation from the “congregational singing” rule. All live music recorded within the worship service (not just the congregational singing) is covered under the Church Copyright License, provided the songs are from the catalog of a publisher/song owner that CCLI represents. There is also a limit on how many recorded copies can be made per service, which is 15% of a church’s license size. Basically, the recording provision of the Church Copyright License is designed for the typical Church recording/tape ministry, and is not suited for commercial purposes.

What’s Not Covered
Any song copying activity pertaining to solo/group/choir performance is not covered by the Church Copyright License. Neither is web streaming or rehearsal recordings. Separate permission must be obtained for any of these copying and performance/distribution activities. And here are some of the specific limitations to keep in mind:

What You Cannot Do
Photocopy or duplicate octavos, cantatas, musicals, handbell music, keyboard arrangements, vocal scores, orchestrations, or other instrumental works.

1. Translate songs into another language. This can only be done with the approval of the respective publisher.
2. Rent, sell or lend copies made under the license to groups outside the church or to other churches. (It is OK to distribute recordings of the worship service to shut-ins, missionaries or others outside the church.)
3. Assign or transfer the license to another church or group without CCLI’s approval.

We hope this clarifies what the CCLI license does and does not cover. As always, we welcome your questions. But first, you may want to check our new Support page at http://www.ccli.com/Support/. Our FAQ/Knowledge Base section covers a wide range of common questions and copyright issues. Our new SongSearch tool helps you determine if a certain song or copyright owner is covered under the license. And our Help Clip videos offer brief tutorials on various topics.

You can also call us at 1-800-234-2446 and press ‘4’ for Customer Service. Thanks for allowing us to serve you.

Paul Herman is the Marketing Manager for Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI), based in Portland, Oregon.