Provident Music Executive Introduces Us To Worship Copyright Licensing
It is wise to remember that the … licensing power is a dangerous and potent weapon which, in the hands of unscrupulous or bigoted men, could be used to suppress freedoms and destroy religion unless it is kept within appropriate bounds.- U.S. Supreme Court;
It's the 1990's.
Music City.
Life is good.
We're in a meeting in the office of an Executive Producer with Provident Music.
We're producing a scripture-music album for them.
(Provident Music was in the process of becoming the world's largest seller of Christian music.)
At this meeting, the Executive Producer chimes, "Did you know that the United States Copyright Act excludes churches from paying performance royalties?"
I answer, "No," feeling like this was probably a 1st Amendment protection, and a good thing.
In my mind, I see a guy in a black suit pointing an FBI gun into a church music pastor's office.
The Executive Producer continues, "So we songwriters and publishers are losing money! But we're building a solution. A company in Portland called CCLi is going to collect money from churches and pay it to us copyright owners!"
I reply, "Good."
But I'm thinking, "Is it really good to shake churches down for money for singing songs?"
But then I was a member of a church which paid its (dubiously talented) pastor, including benefits, 12 times the then-current U.S. poverty level (over $120,000+) a year, money which I felt the church got by watering down and commercializing the gospel, and frankly, putting me to sleep with boring sermons, while asking me and my other professional friends to play in the worship band for free.
The church spent mad amounts of money on a giant gymnasium.
I figured the church ought to share the wealth with songwriters and music publishers, (though none of us were missing any meals either.)
I also volunteered doing music ministry at the Music City Rescue Mission, where we frequently, oblivious to copyright concerns, copied lyrics onto transparent overhead-projector sheets to display so the homeless people (if they could read) could sing along.
I wondered if CCLi would target the rescue mission chapel.
I hoped not.