- Resource Type: Articles, Singing
- Topics: Choral Music, Congregational Music, Contemporary Music, Hymns, Music, School, Singing
“Can I copy [song title] from Into His Presence?” is a frequent inquiry we receive. The answer is that it depends on the song.
Songs are either copyrighted or in the public domain. If they are public domain, they are “owned by the public” — they may be freely copied or arranged.
Songs not in public domain are copyrighted, meaning that a copyright holder controls how the song may be distributed.
How do you tell the difference between songs that are copyrighted or in public domain? Look at the bottom of the song for copyright information. (In some hymnals, you will look up the song in the copyright index in the back.)
If the song is copyrighted, you will see a copyright notice such as this:
Music © 2014 Hope Publishing Company, Carol Stream, IL 60188. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
This song is owned by Hope Publishing Company. To receive copy permission, you would need to contact Hope Publishing directly.
If you see no copyright notice, the song is (to the best of our knowledge) in public domain. You are free to copy.
We don’t hold the copyrights and permissions for most of the songs in Into His Presence. You need to go to each composer/poet/publisher and acquire those permissions for the songs you want. This is a lot of work, but it’s exactly what we needed to do in order to publish these songs legally.
How do you find the contact info for the copyright holder? If it’s a composer like Wendell Glick, it’s easy to find his website through a Google search and contact him. If it’s a publisher, often you can buy a license to use the song. Onelicense.net is a good place to start. They hold copyright permissions for several publishers, including GIA Publications and Hope Publishing Company from whom we got several songs for Into His Presence. You can also email us to ask for contact info, and we’ll give you the most up-to-date information we have (recognizing that contact info changes).
Copying songs legally can be time-consuming and costly, which is why publishers do the work for you and create a printed compilation ready for you to use. If you need copies of a single piece, we encourage you to purchase permissions so you can copy legally. Songs are like an unattended roadside fruit and vegetable stand. We can take some without paying, and no one may ever know the difference, but it is still taking something that isn’t ours. If the fruit or the song has value to us, we owe it to the owner to pay them so they can continue to make these things of value available to others.
