Copyright and music & lyrics from non-English hymn books.

With non-English hymnbooks and music, it is often very difficult to determine if music is copyright or not. This is because:
  • Some foreign language hymnbooks do not print copyright information in the hymnbook, even though it is a recently published hymnbook (eg Chinese 'The New Hymnal, 1983)
  • Some of the information is in a language I don't understand or listed in a way I cannot follow
  • I usually check in the CCLI data base, and the song is not listed
  • Some countries have different copyright laws to Australia (some have none).
This page describes what my policy in these cases.

Basic Concept

There is no intention on my part to profit by by-passing copyright.

It is my belief that Christian composers write their music so the Church can benefit, rather than as a money making business. Consequently they want their music used. I personally do not benefit financially by the policy below.

If a copyright holder is not happy with the concept below, please let me know and I will either add the copyright information they provide, or remove their music from my site.

What is done on the site

1. If I suspect the music is copyright, but don't know, I do not publish the score, but simply record the music.

2. On the webpage, in the 'Lyrics/Score' column there is: '© Note'. This indicates my uncertainty about the copyright status or information.

3. The recordings are made freely available, and I do not profit financially from them in any way.

4. This policy means that the copyright holder (if one) will not get paid the download fee (about 15 cents), but this will be more than repaid through the greater use of the music.

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