The Blog
Engaging, practical ideas, helpful tools, and creative
strategies to help you lead and teach with confidence
Copyright - everyone’s favorite topic, right?
It’s a tricky and complicated subject and it can be hard to make sense of all the information that’s out there.
What are the rules?
What do I need to know?
How does it impact me and my work?
What kind of licenses do I need to cover my week-to-week activity?
If you’re in a quandary over copyright laws, you’re not alone. Read on, my friend.
Maybe you’ve been there, or maybe you’re there now - the choir director who’s trying to piece together a music library on a shoestring budget with anthems that are interesting and relevant to your choir and congregation.
As we all know, music is expensive ($2-4 per octavo for most choral pieces) and there isn’t always room in the budget for those kind of expenditures throughout the year, especially if you’re looking to build a music library and purchase more than 1-2 new anthems per year.
The struggle is real.
But, there’s good news. Some music is free! That’s right. Music published before 1923 is in the public domain (in the USA), which means it is free to obtain and use.
It can be a bit overwhelming to sift through all the music that’s out there, so today, I’m sharing a few of my favorite go-to resources for music in the public domain along with some anthem suggestions that might work for your choir.
Copyright. It's a sticky subject and one not often taught in school. What does the law say? How does it affect what we do as musicians, freelancers, artists, and small business owners? Here's what you need to know:
First, what is copyright law and why does it exist?
The purpose of copyright law is “to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries” (Article I, Section 8, clause 8, The United States Constitution). Copyright law protects anything with intellectual property rights. This includes poetry, books, photographs, art, hymn texts, song lyrics, music, and more.
