Use of Copyright as it Pertains to this Web Site

Copyright law imposes limits on what songs can be provided here.   Some songs in our songbook are in the public domain and can safely be included on a site like this.   Other songs in our songbook are there specifically because permission from the copyright holder granted its use there. Such permission does not automatically extend to other uses such as this web site.   This is a huge topic and beyond the scope of this simple explanation.   Suffice it to say that songs (and revisions) published prior to about 1923 are no longer under copyright and can safely be include here.   Recent songs that appear in “Songs of the Kingdom” could be included if permission could be obtained from the copyright holder.  However, in most cases within "Songs of the Kingdom" the third party copyright holder is either DPI or the ICoC.

We are not using any songs that are copyrighted by DPI or by the ICOC in the Songs of the Kingdom songbook. These songs have either been purchased outright by DPI and are owned by DPI, or DPI has paid to license them for any church usage. To use them would necessitate our paying a copyright royalty fee. We have decided to keep this site for songs that are in the public domain only and that don't require a royalty fee. It is important to understand that in order to have a publishing ministry that serves the church with an updated songbook, revenues have to come back to DPI for the products produced. Therefore, we are very careful to protect the copyright status of any DPI products.

Fortunately, most of the best “old” hymns are public domain and are safe to include.   An excellent site, similar in purpose to ours, includes a section on copyright issues and can be found here, or go to directly to the page dealing with copyright issues here.  At the bottom of that page is a link to even more detailed information.  

We have chosen to follow the wisdom provided by the above mentioned site.  To summarize, we will accept songs for this site that meet the following criteria:

• Published before 1923; or
• Expressly released into the public domain; or
• Your own work, which you wish to freely distribute through ICC Songs;  or
• Express permission is granted by a third party copyright holder. (I doubt we will have many of these.)

Private Use of Copyrighted Material