About CCLI
Christian Copyright Licensing International
CCLI is the largest Christian copyright licensing organization in the world, founded in 1988 in the United States. With offices in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Korea, Germany, and South Africa, and more than 30 years of experience licensing Christian works, CCLI currently licenses more than 600,000 of the world's most popular songs to nearly 230,000 churches in more than 80 countries.
Our History
Christian copyright licensing began in the early 1980s with the worship and praise movement. The worship and praise form of worship has greatly influenced church services, and naturally, the issue of copyright for praise songs has come to the forefront for churches. In 1984, a $3 million lawsuit against the Catholic Church of Chicago for copying sheet music shocked many in the church, as it showed that copyright law applied to churches as well.
Along with this change, Bible Temple Church (now City Bible Church) in Oregon, USA, began contacting a number of copyright holders to obtain permission to use their songs in church for worship purposes. This experience led to the development of a church ministry team called Starpraise Ministries, which helped other churches in the area. During this time, similar organizations sprang up in the United States and other countries, but the nature of international use of praise songs made it necessary to unite under one organization, and in 1988, Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) was founded.
Today, CCLI serves as an expert on behalf of many churches and many rights holders around the world in the use of musical works for worship. Starting with reproduction rights for the use of OHPs and photocopiers, CCLI has continuously revised its licenses and added and managed various rights to meet the needs of churches as technology and media evolve, such as subtitles for projectors, recording/recording, and transmission of worship services.
CCLI-managed songs range from black gospel, the latest worship songs from the U.S. and U.K., to newly created songs from Korea and other cultures around the world. CCLI is constantly working to obtain copyright clearance for many of these works so that churches can worship freely without copyright restrictions.
CCLI has been working with churches for over 30 years because of their need and commitment to proper copyright compliance, which has resulted in a socially responsible and praiseworthy Christian culture. We look forward to working with churches to build a richer Christian culture.
About CCLI Korea
As Korean society has become more respectful of creators' rights and socially engaged, the Korean church is also a mature social organization that needs to know how to properly protect its copyrights. Our Korea office was started in 2012 at the request of the church and helps guide not only Korean churches, but also immigrant churches around the world.
We have a delegation agreement with a Korean copyright organization for the church use of Korean original songs, and we are in charge of registering and managing Korean songs in the CCLI system, which is used by 250,000 churches around the world, so that they can be widely used overseas.
In addition to providing CCLI license management, we are actively involved in copyright education through speaking engagements, articles, appearances, and collaborations to educate the church about the importance of copyright and to promote a healthy Christian cultural ecosystem through copyright.
“We believe that joining the CCLI is a decision that not only demonstrates the church's compliance with the laws of the land, but also recognizes and honors the lives and efforts that God has given through songwriters."
P목사, N교회
About Collaborative Organizations
CCLI manages the largest collection of worship songs in the world and in Korea.
From foreign translations to homegrown compositions from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and South America, and from 80s worship and praise to revival Korean, Aging and Marcus, I Am One, We Love, and hymnals, from older songs to newer releases, many of the songs in the CCLI's repertoire are in the care of the CCLI.
CCLI makes it easy to comply with the copyrights of 8,000 creative works by 900 Korean artists and 600,000 songs by 7,000 organizations around the world. CCLI works with churches in Korea and around the world to make copyright compliance easy.