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This week, “Print license,” Let’s go -
This one is for my church and band folks. Do you have a print licence for the songs your choir or band is singing and playing? Depending on your audience you might want to. A print license is an agreement between a music user and the owner of a copyrighted composition (song), that grants permission to rearrange, print, or display the music notes or lyrics of the song. This permission is also called print rights. If you rearrange, print, or display the sheet music, notes, or lyrics of a song that someone else wrote, even a little bit, you need a print license.
If you are performing from a new sheet music arrangement in public you need a permission to arrange license. In addition the permission needs to be displayed on the title page of every sheet on a stand where you are performing. Permissions to Arrange can be obtained from Hal Leonard Inc or Trésona and take up to six weeks. Prices rang from $50 up, depending on the purpose, group size etc.
Ok that’s the “info,” but let’s be real. Church choirs do not need a licence to perform during worship service. If they are performing on a national televised show and do a different arrangement and have sheet music, then yes. You can also purchase a CCLI (a privately held company) licence where you can get legal content and media and possibly get paid for your original songs that end up on the overhead screen for the congregation to sing.
Most marching bands are buying sheet music, thereby the purchase has made everything legal. However, once you leave the classroom and create that custom arrangement of “Neck,” you will need to follow copyright laws and get a permission to arrange licence.
To be honest, unless you are in a large public setting where someone from Hal Leonard may show up you probably won’t get fined. But you don’t want to find out in court. It’s easy, contact the copyright holder before that big performance you’ve been waiting on, or your band plays at the Bayou Classic, or Super Bowl. You don’t want to come back home to a BAL aka a Big Ass Lawsuit!
Ok so that’s it for publishing for now. I hope that you found this 5 part series of value. Please share with your writer/publisher friends and feel free to reach out to me for any more information. Join a PRO, and get an Entertainment attorney. Next week we will talk about your budget.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. We will keep Independent Artists of the Week as Indie artists with Christmas Music. Click on the name, scroll down the page to hear, buy and support.
For more information or to hire Unda The Hat as your brand or label consultant send a message via undathehat.com. See you next week.