Hymns, Song Lyrics and Copyright in Church Bulletins

Printing the words of a hymn in the bulletin is one of the most common things a church office does, and one of the least understood. This page explains the general rules and points you to the organizations that license songs. It's general information, not legal advice. If you have a specific legal question, ask your denomination's office or a lawyer.

The basic rule: printing is copying

Singing a hymn in a service and printing its words are treated differently. When you print the words or music in a bulletin, you are making copies. If the song is still under copyright, copies need the copyright owner's permission: making copies, performing a work in public and displaying it in public are separate rights that belong to the owner (17 U.S.C. § 106). CCLI, which licenses songs to churches, puts it plainly: "Permission is required to copy or reproduce copyrighted song lyrics and sheet music in church" (CCLI).

What the religious-services exemption covers

U.S. copyright law has a specific exemption for worship. Section 110(3) of the copyright law says that the following is not an infringement (17 U.S.C. § 110, Cornell Law School):

performance of a nondramatic literary or musical work or of a dramatico-musical work of a religious nature, or display of a work, in the course of services at a place of worship or other religious assembly

That exemption is about performing and displaying a work during a service: the congregation singing, the organist playing, the choir's anthem. It doesn't mention making copies. That's why licenses for printing lyrics exist, even though singing in worship is exempt.

Projecting words on a screen

The same goes for projecting lyrics. Showing the words on a screen during a service is a display, which the exemption covers. But typing or pasting the words into slides or presentation software makes a copy, and the exemption doesn't cover copies. That's why both licenses below cover projection as well as printing. CCLI's license terms allow churches to store song files "in computers, presentation software and similar resources to enable the visual projection of Songs" (CCLI license summary), and ONE LICENSE counts music "projected to a screen" as a reprint that its license covers (ONE LICENSE).

Public-domain hymns: free to print

Many of the hymns churches love most are old enough to be in the public domain, which means anyone can print them. In the United States, works first published before 1931 are in the public domain (Cornell University Library). Works published from 1931 through 1977 can still be under copyright for 95 years after publication, so each January 1, works from one more year join the public domain. (Some published from 1931 through 1963 are already free because their copyright was never renewed, but finding that out takes research, so treat them as protected unless you know.) Works from 1978 on are generally protected until 70 years after the author's death.

Texts by Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley, John Newton or Thomas Ken are far older than that. The Doxology printed in our bulletin templates is Thomas Ken's text, written about 1674 and published in the 1690s, which Hymnary.org lists as "Public Domain" (Hymnary.org).

But be careful about the version in your hymnal, which may be newer than the hymn:

A modern translation of an old German or Latin hymn can be under copyright even though the original isn't.
Altered words, such as updated pronouns or a new verse, can be copyrighted as a new version.
A new tune, harmonization or arrangement can be under copyright even when the words are free. This matters when you print the music, not just the words.

The fine print at the bottom of each hymn in your hymnal tells you. If you see a © with a date of 1931 or later, or "Words ©" or "Music ©" with a publisher's name, treat that part as copyrighted. Hymnary.org shows a copyright line for many texts, which helps when the hymnal is unclear.

Licenses for printing copyrighted songs

Instead of writing to each publisher, many churches buy an annual license from an organization that represents many publishers. The two you'll hear about most:

CCLI's Church Copyright License covers printing song lyrics "in bulletins, programs, and song sheets for your congregation", along with projecting lyrics on a screen, and CCLI says it covers more than 600,000 worship songs and hymns. You report the songs you use (CCLI).

ONE LICENSE uses the word "reprint" for "reproducing or copying images of congregational music (words alone or words + music) that are projected to a screen, printed in a paper worship aid, shared electronically, or embedded into a video." It offers an annual license, a 7-day event license, and a single-use license valid for 24 hours, which it describes as "an excellent fit for one-off events, like weddings and funerals." License holders report the titles they use, and when a short license expires, the worship aids are to be destroyed (ONE LICENSE).

Each organization covers the catalogs of the publishers that work with it, so a song may be covered by one and not the other. Before you print a song, look it up in your license's catalog. Licenses also set the copyright notice to print with each song; CCLI's terms, for example, ask for the song's title, its writers and its copyright notice in a set form (CCLI license summary). Use the exact wording your license gives.

Streaming or posting a service video online is a separate permission. Both organizations sell separate licenses for that.

Weddings and funerals

A family may ask for a favorite song's words in the program. The same rule applies: if the song is under copyright, printing its words needs permission. Start by checking whether your church's annual license covers the song.

If it doesn't, ONE LICENSE sells a single-use license, valid for 24 hours, which it calls "an excellent fit for one-off events, like weddings and funerals." But it covers only songs in ONE LICENSE's catalog, and its terms say that when it expires, "all worship aids must be destroyed" (ONE LICENSE). A wedding or funeral program that people take home as a keepsake doesn't fit that.

For a keepsake program, you have two good choices: ask the song's publisher for permission directly, or list the song's title in the order of service without the words. A title alone needs no permission, because titles aren't protected by copyright (37 CFR 202.1).

Concerts and other events

Concerts are different from services. The worship exemption covers music performed in the course of a service. The exemption that fits a concert, recital or community event is a narrower one, section 110(4) of the same law, and it applies only when all of this is true (17 U.S.C. § 110(4)):

The music is performed live in the room, not broadcast or streamed.
It is music or readings, not a play or a staged musical.
The event has no commercial purpose, and nobody (performers, promoters or organizers) is paid for the performance.
There's no admission charge, or the money left after reasonable costs goes only to educational, religious or charitable purposes. In that second case, a copyright owner can still object by a signed, written notice served at least seven days before the performance.

If your event doesn't meet all of that, performing copyrighted music needs permission for public performance. Printing licenses don't include it: CCLI's terms say its copyright license "does not include any public performance rights" (CCLI license summary), and CCLI offers a separate performance license for music played "outside of your worship services, where the Religious Service Exemption doesn't apply" (CCLI). Printing the words of a song in a concert program is still copying, the same as in a bulletin.

Bible translations

The King James Version is in the public domain in the United States, which is why our templates use it (the text comes from Project Gutenberg's edition). Most modern translations are copyrighted, and each publisher sets its own rules for quoting them. Some allow quotation in church bulletins without asking, within limits.

For example, Crossway, the publisher of the English Standard Version, allows up to 500 verses without written permission, within its limits, and says that in "non-saleable media, such as church bulletins, orders of service, posters," a full copyright notice isn't required, "but the initials (ESV) must appear at the end of the quotation" (Crossway). Other publishers' rules differ. Check the copyright page at the front of the Bible your church uses.

A quick checklist before you print a song

Look at the copyright line under the hymn in your hymnal.
If it says public domain, or every part of it (words, translation, tune and arrangement) was published before 1931, print it.
If not, check whether your church's license covers that song, and print the notice the license asks for.
If there's no license, list the title and hymn number instead of the words.
Report what you used, if your license requires it.
For a concert or other event outside a service, check the performance rules above too.

When in doubt, ask the licensing organization or your denomination's office. They answer this question every day.