Specialist Uses

Recordings of Music & Words

Audio and video recordings of live worship or concerts

It is always necessary to obtain copyright clearance to record any copyright music or words on audio or video tape, CD, DVD, or vinyl. It is essential to ensure that you are correctly licensed, as below, in advance of any planned recording.

Non-commercial recordings

For music recordings, the great majority of music copyright owners in the UK (and, by affiliation, most of the world) are represented by the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS). MCPS has appointed Christian Copyright Licensing (Europe) (CCLE) as its agent to license such recording rights in the church for non-commercial purposes, and this licence is included in the Church Copyright Licence. This allows churches to record services to distribute small numbers of recordings as part of the ministry to their normal congregation. Audio and video recordings of weddings, baptisms and funerals are also covered by this arrangement. For details contact CCLE – see Copyright Agencies.

Commercial recordings

Recordings intended for sale on a commercial basis are not covered by the above arrangement. Enquiries to license such products should be made to MCPS – see Copyright Agencies.

Pre-recorded material

Pre-recorded records, CDs and tapes, videos etc., whether Christian or secular and classical or modern, may not be copied without permission from the copyright owners of both the individual music and words, and of the sound recordings to be used. Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) – see Copyright Agencies – represents the owners, usually record companies, of the rights in the sound recordings themselves, while MCPS license the right to use the words and music of the songs used. So if you are using pre-recorded material in any way, e.g. as part of a video of an event and are using existing copyright music in it, you need licences from both organisations.

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