{"id":32415,"date":"2022-09-10T16:08:40","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:08:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/6-things-your-church-may-be-doing-illegally\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T16:08:40","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:08:40","slug":"6-things-your-church-may-be-doing-illegally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/6-things-your-church-may-be-doing-illegally\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Things Your Church May Be Doing Illegally"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Best Practices to Keep Ministries Compliant with Copyright Law\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

By Aaron Wilson<\/em><\/p>\n

With all the weighty responsibilities churches deal with, it can be tempting for leaders to view copyright law as a trivial concern compared to the more pressing demands of ministry.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, leaders who bring a casual attitude to copyright infringement put themselves at legal risk. Not only that, they also jeopardize the integrity of their ministries by flirting with the temptation to steal creative property.<\/p>\n

As a best practice to ensure your church is acting above reproach in honoring copyright law, survey the below list and seek to avoid the following six things that may be putting your ministry at risk.<\/p>\n

1. Making copies of printed resources<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Ministry leaders working under a budget have to do more with less. This sometimes makes it tempting to make copies of printed material for discipleship classes, choir practice, or kids ministry.<\/p>\n

Suppose you\u2019re doing a church-wide study using a curriculum the church didn\u2019t self-publish. While it might be enticing to save the church a few bucks by making 10 extra copies of the two leader guides you purchased, don\u2019t do it.<\/p>\n

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Bottom line: Copying a work is stealing from the author, the publisher, the distributer, and anyone else who\u2019s invested time and money getting the resource to market. As a best practice, don\u2019t make copies of a resource unless it clearly says it\u2019s reproducible.<\/em><\/p>\n

2. Showing movie clips<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Owning a DVD doesn\u2019t grant a church the right to show that film inside the building or at another venue such as on an inflatable screen for outdoor movie night. To legally show a movie publicly or to a large number of people, a church must first purchase a site license.<\/p>\n

Likewise, a pastor risks liability for showing a movie snippet, television clip, or a commercial\u2014regardless of how short it is\u2014as a sermon intro or illustration. While a scene from \u201cThe Rookie\u201d might make a perfect illustration for a sermon series titled, \u201cSigns From God,\u201d it would be a rookie mistake to show the clip without permission.<\/p>\n

Bottom line: The best practice for showing movies at church is to not take any chances. Purchase a site license before scheduling church movie-nights and avoid showing movie clips as a way to supplement sermons unless you’ve paid for the license to do so.<\/em><\/p>\n

3. Using copyrighted images<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I attended a conference once where a social media \u201cexpert\u201d told a room of church leaders any picture they found on Google Images was safe to borrow for ministry purposes. \u201cFeel free to use these images on your church websites, personal blogs, and social media accounts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, this kind of advice can position churches to face hefty fines and public embarrassment.<\/p>\n

Knowing how to right-click on an image with your mouse doesn\u2019t make it right to click on that image for the sake of copying it. In doing so, you may very well be stealing the creative work of a photographer or graphic artist.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, many websites offer free stock photos for churches and individuals to use.<\/p>\n

Many of these photos and graphics fall under a Creative Commons license that provides public permission to share and use creative work on conditions designated by the owner.<\/p>\n

Bottom line: As a best practice, only use images labeled as free stock photos by a reputable site. Most of the time, Creative Commons images are free to use as long as the borrower of the image isn\u2019t using it to make money. However, always read the fine print<\/strong> to ensure you\u2019re complying with the conditions of the license.<\/em><\/p>\n

4. Projecting or printing song lyrics<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Is it OK for churches to sing copyrighted songs in service without paying for a license? Yes and no.<\/p>\n

The religious service exemption of U.S. Copyright Law allows churches to sing copyrighted songs in a church service. But when printed or projected lyrics are involved, it gets a little trickier.<\/p>\n

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See also  The Power of the Ordinary Moments<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The problem stems from the fact that while the religious service exemption allows churches to perform and display copyrighted works for worship services, it doesn\u2019t give churches permission to reproduce<\/em> those works.<\/p>\n

Reproduction of copyrighted lyrics can include the following:<\/p>\n