Sued For Covering Christian Songs?

[SpiritualFox]

So lately everybody has been suing everybody for making covers of their songs and whatnot but I wonder is the same applied to Christian music? I really like a lot of Contemporary Christian songs and want to make an acoustic album with them but would I get sued? If I did, wouldn't that be against the bible? Aren't we not supposed to sue another Christian?
I'm just really wondering this because I see songs like Everlasting God which has at least 4 different artists singing this. Do they get permission to do the song or what? I would really love to know if anyone can help me with this.

 

[AnandaHya]

you have to buy copyright laws for the words and tune of another person song. it their lively hood. its like plagarism and stuff. so yea you would get sued and it wouldn't be against the bible the bible says to follow the laws of this word and not make God ashame of your actions.

 

[SpiritualFox]

But see, I'm doing it for the Lord. I'm doing it to spread his love! He broke Paul out of jail which is illegal. It is illegal you know to just walk out of jail, but he did it for the Lord.

The way I think of it is that as long as I don't claim the song as mine that I would be able to use the songs. God said to worship him with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. It says in 1 Corinthians Chapter 6 to avoid lawsuits with Christians.

 

[jimmydiggs]

Romans 13 "clause" applies. Follow the laws of the land until they disagree with Christ. When they disagree with Christ, follow Christ.

1 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Also, I think one passage might help with the Ideal solution. However, SpiritualFox beat me to it.

1 If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? 2 Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! 4 Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church? 5 I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? 6 But instead, one brother takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers!
7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8 Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. 9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men[a] 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

So I think ideally it would go something like. Don't violate the copyright laws, but if someone infringes your copyrights, don't take them to court if they are Christian. Probably should avoild court as a whole really. Be forgiving. Remember that part of the Lord's Prayer?

"Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil."

 

[Alli84]

You're seventeen, so I'm willing to bet that if you looked into it, the copyright owner may let you use their song if you contacted them. Also, there are many good christian songs that are public domain.

 

[VikkiKate89]

You'd have to get permission from the artists before doing so. And to be fair, you'd do better if you would take the more original move and write your own stuff rather than just covering the songs others have made. But using someone else's work without their permission is basically stealing, so unless you ask for permission, don't be surprised if someone sues you.

 

[SpiritualFox]

I actually do write my own songs, I just want to cover some of these songs because they speak out things that I've wanted to speak. Why is it OK for my church to play a song but yet they don't get sued, but if I play it, I possibly could? I sing these songs because they enhance my connection with the Spirit and I'm not going to let Government, nor the artists get in the way of me experiencing the Spirit.

 

[AnandaHya]

But see, I'm doing it for the Lord. I'm doing it to spread his love! He broke Paul out of jail which is illegal. It is illegal you know to just walk out of jail, but he did it for the Lord.

The way I think of it is that as long as I don't claim the song as mine that I would be able to use the songs. God said to worship him with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. It says in 1 Corinthians Chapter 6 to avoid lawsuits with Christians.

most of the christian songs aren't copy righted because the writers are like you and want people to spread God's word. just check to see if its copy righted. on the cd it will say copyrighted or free for distrubution.

lol can you imagine the faces of guards if God worked a miracle and broke you out of jail? remember you have to stay in so they won't be beheaded in your place lol

I think you should sing until the WHOLE world hears the majesty of Jesus!

YouTube - Casting Crowns - Until the Whole world Hears - Casting Crowns w/lyrics

do what GOD leads you to do, not man.

 

[Rheod]

(me as a law student talking) u wud need to get the persons permission because they own the copyright to the song. (me as a Christian) they shudnt get upset because you're moving and spreading the word of God throw music

 

[VikkiKate89]

Here's a link about Christian copyright to answer your questions about the church: Music Publishers Association | Copyright Resource Center | The Church Musician and the Copyright Law

If you scroll down there's FAQ's along with answers regarding the steps churches are supposed to take in order to legally use a copyright song. They're supposed to get permission in order to do it. Honestly I doubt a lot of churches do, I know that mine pretty much had us just display the copyright information on the slides/transparencies, giving credit where credit was due, but I don't think they ended up asking for permission, not that it makes them right.

Something to keep in mind though, it's easier to go after a single artist for copyright infringement than it is to go after every single church that doesn't follow the copyright laws exactly. And in the end the artists you are covering are legally entitled to their royalties for their work, and stealing is stealing. I don't care what it does for you spiritually, if you're making a profit over someone else's work without their permission, and they're not receiving their royalties that they are entitled to, it's stealing. And the last thing a new musician, let alone a Christian one at that, needs is a copyright scandal to launch their carrier.

And besides as much as you disagree with the government on this issue, Christians are still commanded to obey the law, and stealing is wrong in the Bible anyways.

 

[SpiritualFox]

But see, I don't want to profit. What I want to do is spread around God's word, love, and name through music. If I ever do get money for a CD or something I would donate it to charity. I would have to keep some money though to keep throwing out CD's but besides that I think donations would be an awesome way to stay out of the trouble.

Also note that if they were to sue because of profit or whatever, that's against the Bible. I know that much. For that would be greed.

1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

 

[zeroturbulence]

Copyright means CANNOT BE COPIED without the owner's permission. It doesn't matter if you are making money off of it or not. If you are found in violation of someone's copyright they can sue you because you violated their legal RIGHT to sole ownership of the song.

Imagine that you baked these special recipe cookies and you were selling lots of them and that money kept you and your family fed and clothed, and one day you see someone giving away free cookies that taste exactly like yours and you find out they copied your recipe word for word and here they are giving it away for free even though only you have the legal rights to that recipe. How would you feel about that?

 

[EverlastingChange]

@ zeroturbulence

So what about the countless churches round the world that have worship bands and play well known Christian songs? Obviously they haven't directly contacted every band for permission of every song they play, are they in the wrong for this?

 

[lightbliss]

You state that you want to "spread around God's word, love, and name through music," well, don't you think these artists are already doing that?

And I agree with VikkiKate89.

Churches aren't singing these songs to get recognition, putting it on YouTube, or whatever. If you put these songs of your rendition on the Internet, you are infringing on someone's copyright.

The Bible states that stealing is a sin, so why do that when it's so easy to contact the artist or recording label to get permission to use the song?

Your argument doesn't really make sense because somehow if you're sued for using their material without permission, they're the ones who're wrong. Really? If you're going to use scripture to justify your intentions, then that should show you that you shouldn't do it. Here is a scripture you may have missed in your search.

Matthew 18:15-17
Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

God Bless

 

[VikkiKate89]

@ zeroturbulence

So what about the countless churches round the world that have worship bands and play well known Christian songs? Obviously they haven't directly contacted every band for permission of every song they play, are they in the wrong for this?

Legally yes. But as someone pointed out earlier, a lot of Christian artists already have their stuff up for public domain. Also the link I posted earlier shows it's not difficult to get permission. It's just a letter away, and some of the companies you'd have to contact have their phone numbers provided. Either way if it's not up for public domain you have to get permission.

And Spiritualfox, you still need to get the permission of the copyright holders. There is no way around that. I'm sorry but that's life. Like I said, you lose your witness as a Christian if you start off your carrier with a lawsuit because you used material that wasn't originally yours and you never asked permission.

 

[angelos]

you have to buy copyright laws for the words and tune of another person song. it their lively hood. its like plagarism and stuff. so yea you would get sued and it wouldn't be against the bible the bible says to follow the laws of this word and not make God ashame of your actions.

It also says it is a loss to go to a secular court and to rather take the loss and move on that said she is right you're still stealing their work unless you get their permission to use said song.

 

[zeroturbulence]

@ zeroturbulence

So what about the countless churches round the world that have worship bands and play well known Christian songs? Obviously they haven't directly contacted every band for permission of every song they play, are they in the wrong for this?

Playing them is fine, but he's talking about making cd's and giving them away.Trust me I know about playing cover songs. I used to be the drummer for a couple of local cover bands. You can play cover songs pretty much all you like but you can't put them on a cd with the intention of distributing them to the public.

 

[VikkiKate89]

Playing them is fine, but he's talking about making cd's and giving them away.Trust me I know about playing cover songs. I used to be the drummer for a couple of local cover bands. You can play cover songs pretty much all you like but you can't put them on a cd with the intention of distributing them to the public.

They also need permission to display the lyrics on a transparency/slide or print out copies for the congregation to use.

 

[zeroturbulence]

Legally yes. But as someone pointed out earlier, a lot of Christian artists already have their stuff up for public domain. Also the link I posted earlier shows it's not difficult to get permission. It's just a letter away, and some of the companies you'd have to contact have their phone numbers provided. Either way if it's not up for public domain you have to get permission.

And Spiritualfox, you still need to get the permission of the copyright holders. There is no way around that. I'm sorry but that's life. Like I said, you lose your witness as a Christian if you start off your carrier with a lawsuit because you used material that wasn't originally yours and you never asked permission.

Yes, the thing is that you have to get permission. Without permission they can sue. There may be some bands that don't care or don't copyright their music. Thats up to them, but unless he knows for sure that the band he is covering won't sue its always better to be safe than sorry.

Anyway, he can go ahead and try if he wants and if the band/s find out and doesn't like it, they will probably just have their lawyer send him a Cease and Desist letter. But there's no guarantee they won't just take legal action.