The five questions we hear the most

In the last few years, no question has been asked more than this one. Websites such as YouTube offer a world of readily-available videos on almost every conceivable topic, so it’s no wonder churches are keen to share them in services and meetings.

However, as YouTube doesn’t own the videos uploaded to its platform, it doesn’t have the rights to license them for public display. As a result, YouTube’s terms restrict videos on its site to private viewing only. This means that to legally show a video from YouTube in church, you will need to obtain permission from the copyright owner(s) beforehand. Our article Showing Videos In Church provides further guidance on the different types of video available, and what to consider before showing them.

If you’re unable to obtain permission to show a video from YouTube, our advice is to find an alternative source. Wherever you get your videos, CCLI recommends you always check the terms of the site you are using, and never assume you can use a video without confirming you are allowed to show it in public.

As live streaming and on-demand webcasting of worship services becomes more common, churches ask the inevitable questions around copyright.

As always, it’s important to obtain the proper permissions for any material you wish to include.

CCLI provides a choice of two licences as a supplement to our  Church Copyright Licence. The CCLI Streaming Licence™ permits you to include authorised worship songs played live during your online worship. The CCLI Streaming Plus Licence™ extends this coverage to include authorised song recordings, such as artist tracks, backing tracks, and multitracks.

These licences cover streamed or uploaded services on your church’s website as well as social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook, and other streaming platforms.

Unfortunately, these licences won’t stop the occasional copyright notice or strike on some popular social media channels.

As part of YouTube’s video upload process, they will ask whether your video includes copyrighted content that you don’t own. Typically, for church services that include music, the answer is yes. YouTube will then mandate that your video includes advertising, and the rightful copyright owner(s) will receive a share of that ad revenue.

Facebook’s algorithms and search bots are particularly vigilant at identifying and removing videos with potential copyright violations, even if you have a licence. You may need to verify that you have the appropriate permission in place.

We trust that this has been beneficial. If you have additional questions, feel free to contact us. We’re here to help.

CCLI’s licences are designed to make legal access to a wealth of copyrighted content simple and affordable. You’ll find a summary of what our licences permit you to do on our Copyright Licensing page.

As CCLI’s agreements with rights holders often authorise the use of entire catalogues, it’s not possible to provide lists of the individual titles covered. Instead, if you need to check if a particular song or title is covered, simply visit SongSelect and enter the song title and author in the search box. If you don’t find a match, it’s likely the song is not covered by the licence.

To confirm if a publisher catalogue is authorised under your licence, search the Church Copyright Licence – Covered Catalogues.

If you find the title you wish to use is not covered by your CCLI licence, we recommend contacting the copyright owner directly to obtain permission.

Part of the terms of the Church Copyright Licence™ is that you include the copyright information on each printed or projected song copy. For a song projection with multiple slides, the information only has to appear once, and is usually placed at the beginning or end. Here is an example of the necessary information:

 “Hallelujah" words and music by John Doe © 2018 Good Music Co. Used by Permission. CCL License #12345

Note that the number at the bottom (#12345 in the example) should be your church’s licence number, not the song’s CCLI ID number.

This is a question we’re hearing more and more: Can I change song lyrics to fit our church’s preferences or theology? The simple answer is no—not without permission from the song owner. One of the exclusive rights of a copyright owner is over derivative works, so any changes must have the owner’s permission.

Keep in mind that you are free to arrange songs as you wish, as long as you don’t change the melody or lyrics, or the fundamental character of a song. For example, you may want to start with the chorus, or even the bridge—if that fits the flow of your worship set. That’s fine. Maybe you don’t want to sing all the verses of a song, or maybe one of the verses has lyrics that you find objectionable. Feel free to skip verses. Just don’t change the lyrics.

We never cease to be amazed at the ingenuity of some churches regarding this issue, as one of our favourite “work-arounds" we’ve heard illustrates:

 “So I am new to this whole worship leading thing and I know there’s a lot of talk on here about copyright laws and stuff. …We have a guy who plays the ram’s horn. I could have him blow it really loud every time we get to a word [I don’t feel comfortable with] and people wouldn’t be led astray. Is this ok? Like legally, I’m not breaking any laws, right?"

No, you’re not breaking any laws. But we still wouldn’t recommend it!