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Copyright

On this page: Issues for Church schools | Guidance | Challenging areas | The law | FAQs | Resources

Issues for Church schools

All copyright issues in creation of school hymn or prayer books must be cleared with the publisher. Much of the material commonly used in school worship is subject to author or composer rights to protection as embodied in the copyright laws and international convention on intellectual property. Schools should not copy words or music without ensuring that they either hold a copyright licence that covers the material or they have the specific permission of the copyright owner. Copying in this context includes writing out material onto an acetate sheet for projection.

It is unlikely that the copyright licences that have been arranged by LEAs will cover worship material.

Guidance

Many Church schools have purchased a copyright licence to cover their use of material in school worship from Christian Copyright Licensing (for address and further information see Resources).

Challenging areas

There are two areas of confusion which cause difficulty

  1. Historically, many LEAs have paid for copyright licence for copying related to curriculum issues and work in the classroom. This has not covered material used in worship, but this has not always been clear.
  2. Many people appear to be unaware that the copyright laws apply to devotional material and act as if there was no author/composer involved in the creation of hymns, prayers or other material used in worship.

The law

The legal reference for copyright is found in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, sections 32-36.

FAQs

If we copy out the material by hand rather than using a photocopier we are all right, aren't we?

No, this is still making a copy and you must have a general licence or specific permission.

Resources

Details of an appropriate licence to cover the school's use of reproduced worship material can be obtained from:
Christian Copyright Licensing Ltd
26, Gildredge Road,
Eastbourne,
East Sussex,
BN21 4SA
Tel. 01323 417711
www.ccli.com (international)
www.ccli.co.uk (United Kingdom)

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