Using Technology in Worship Using Technology in Worship

Examples include websites whose purpose is to provide visualresources for worship. eg. Roots (www.rootsontheweb.com), CTBIresource pages (www.ctbi.org.uk).In the case of using video clips from sources like commercial films orTV news, copyright restrictions also apply. A recent help to usingsuch clips legally has been made by Christian Copyright Licensing(CCL). They allow churches to photocopy music words/score and alarge range of music by paying the appropriate fee. They havestarted to compile a list of film producers who will allow use of clipsin a church context according to certain conditions. Most recentlyDisney movies have been added to this list. For churches to takeadvantage of this, an additional ‘video licence’ is purchased withCCL. Projecting song words is also covered by CCL licensing. Somesong projection software will automatically place the church’s CCLnumber at the end of each song as well as provide a print-out ofCCL of songs used. CCLI can be found at www.ccli.co.ukResources like The Methodist Worship Book for Visual Liturgy include alicence to reproduce the words of prayers and readings from boththe Methodist Worship Book and also from some of the Companions tothe Lectionary series. This includes the material in the Worship Bookwhich is not copyright to the Methodist Church. For example eventhe modern form of the Lord’s Prayer is technically copyright (andwe as a Church do not own this form of words).Copyright in the written word and music lasts for 70 years followingthe death of their creator. So you would be free to reproduce thewords to a hymn for example if this were the case. However be sureto use the original words since any updating of them in the interimmay have created a new copyright for the person who updatedthem. You should also avoid simply photocopying them from a newhymn book or song collection because the publisher will also have acopyright on the typographical arrangement.Finally, don’t forget that contacting the copyright holders and askingfor permission to use their material is always an option. You mightbe pleasantly surprised at the response to your request. Sometimeseven when dealing with large corporations (such as the BBC) theresponse can be positive and not necessarily cost prohibitive. Such aroute though does require forward planning and a long lead time.Page 12 ❘