I am (hopefully) in the last week of working on the Turkey, Greece, Rome DVD. I have been stalled for nearly two weeks due to licensing difficulties over music. Most of my trouble was self-inflicted, since I didn’t know what I was doing. I wouldn’t say I’m an expert at licensing now, but I have a better handle on it than before.

There was one detail I learned about the copyright law and public performance that I found interesting. Copyright Law requires that every song performed publicly be properly licensed prior to a performance. But churches are not required to obtain licensing for the public performance of copyrighted songs (an area CCLI does not cover, by the way) because Congress generously exempted churches or religious services from that requirement.

Can you imagine the weekly nightmare across the country as churches or religious services scamper to get the appropriate licenses so they can publicly sing their favorite selections? I can hear the one leading announcing to the congregation, “We had planned to sing ‘How Great Thou Art,’ by Stuart Hine but we forgot to get a public performance license. At the last minute, we contacted the agency that licenses Chris Tomlin’s ‘How Great is Our God,’ but we were denied. So, instead we will sing the public domain ‘Sevenfold Amen.’” A public performance license or exemption allows you to sing the song, but has nothing to do with licensing the printing or display of the words.

I should tell you that it wasn’t the Christian music license holders that gave me the lions-share of these woes. Once I found the right person (organization) to contact (it only took three emails over seven days) and the correct procedure, I had the licenses I needed! As to the other music, after running in a complete circle with the four major licensing agencies (who simply pointed to one of the other agencies as the license holder), I gave up (and just won’t use what was video-taped).

Why I have told you all of this? Because I learned a little something (you figured I would, didn’t you?). Musicians (Publishers, or their designated license-holder agent) threaten “if you break the law.” When someone tries to comply, they nearly make it impossible to obey the law, that is, to live within the law. On an individual level, they will seldom enforce their rights in the law. Thus, by their inconsistency, they are enticing everyone to be law-breakers.

God, too has a law. However, he doesn’t thunder empty threats, because he has already judged: “the maximum penalty for all law-breakers.” When someone tries to comply with his law, he definitely makes it impossible to obey (requiring 100% compliance, all the time). However, he always enforces his law. The last time I checked, one out of every one person pays up or suffers the consequences. Because he is absolutely consistent in his judgment—you know what is coming—you have to conclude that even though God demands his rights, he is fair.

I can hear the objections, “Has God provided no exemptions?” Just One, and that doesn’t really exempt you from his law. Instead his “exemption” is transferred to you from the One who perfectly kept his law. Even though you will not perfectly obey his law as long as you remain in this body of flesh, when you accept Who he has provided, he counts you as a perfect law-abider, beginning now.

Jim

P.S. I should mention that obeying God does not exempt or excuse us from obeying man’s laws as long as we are on this earth and as long as the nature of the laws do not contradict God’s. Copyright laws do not conflict with God’s laws. Copyright laws are probably most abused by Christians.

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