Streaming Church Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic - The Legal Do's and Don'ts
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many churches have shifted to streaming full services online. While this is an effective way to reach people by allowing them to shelter in place, it also presents some legal issues.
Churches utilize a lot of media during services. Music, images, and videos are often used to augment the main message. Generally, each of these elements is protected by copyright, which means churches need permission to use them. If churches don’t obtain proper licenses, they can end up with hefty fines from rights holders and bans from streaming platforms like Facebook Live and YouTube.
Publishers and other rights holders can be hesitant to enforce their rights against churches in normal times. However, the decline in live and recorded music revenues due to the pandemic, coupled with the increase in online service streams, makes unlicensed churches ripe targets for rights holders who need to squeeze revenue out of their material.
While it’s impossible to predict whether your church will be hit with a copyright infringement claim, here are a few tips to decrease the likelihood it ends up in a rights holder’s crosshairs:
DO
· Do acquire the proper clearances for your choir, worship team, or music ensemble to perform any music that is not in the public domain. As of January 1, 2020, any song published before 1925 is now in the public domain. This means that if your musicians play contemporary music, or generally any music written after 1924, you need to obtain performance and sync licenses. If the music is not in the public domain, you’ll need an additional license if you display lyrics.
· Acquire the appropriate licenses for any photographs and videos you use during the service. It can be tempting to use a photograph from a Google Image Search or play a video from YouTube to illustrate a point during a service. However, you generally need permission to use these elements, regardless of whether you are streaming the service. It is important to let the copyright owner know how you plan to use the content, as license prices often vary by media type (i.e., owners might charge a higher rate to use a photograph over a stream that will be recorded than they would for a one-time presentation).
DON’T
· Don’t play music recorded for commercial release during your stream. It is common for some churches to use a playlist of popular songs before and after service. That’s generally fine for a live service if you have purchased a blanket license from the appropriate performing rights agencies. However, you need separate synch and master use licenses to play recorded music over a streaming broadcast because of the different rights at play. Music use at a live service qualifies as a “public performance” and is covered by blanket licenses issued by organizations such as ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. Streaming broadcasts adds another layer of rights that require specific permissions: the synch license grants permission to “synchronize” an underlying music composition to video, while the master use license grants permission to use a specific recording of music composition in a video.
· Don’t assume the church can rely on the fair use doctrine to use copyrighted materials. As stated earlier, rights holders can decide when they want to enforce their copyrights. Stay out of the gray and make sure you have the appropriate clearances, most of which can be obtained fairly quickly and easily.
Fortunately, the licenses required to use media during your streaming service can be obtained through well-established rights clearinghouses with the help of someone who understands licensing. If your church needs help navigating the licensing landscape, Meridian Law can help. Contact us at 615-229-7499, info@meridian.law, or www.meridian.law.