STREAM…The CCLI Streaming & Podcast License – Part III

If your church has a website, most likely you’re posting the pastor’s sermons online. Typically, there are no copyright issues with this, but posting your full service online, music included, is a whole different situation entirely.

Paul Herman, Marketing Director of CCLI, an organization that will consult with your house of worship about the need for such licenses, explains the need and usage of the new Streaming & Podcast License:

“Once churches begin to share their full service online, that’s where issues arise. The worship team is most likely doing copyrighted material. The fact that it is now on a webcast takes it out of the sphere of our Standard Church Copyright License. Once your church’s music service hits the web, it’s a different ballgame. Prior to us establishing our streaming license, there was a webcasting license available from BMI, ASCAP and SECAC. If a church was to get all three of those licenses, it would probably add up to somewhere just under $1,000.

“You can obtain a Streaming & Podcast License from CCLI for a lot less. However, to be fair, their license covers both worship and secular songs. Our Streaming & Podcast License covers the same songs as our foundational Church Copyright License. So if your church plans to webcast both secular and worship music, you may want to look to ASCAP, BMI and/or SESAC. However, for a typical worship service, our Streaming & Podcast License should be just fine.

“Understand that this license only covers your live-recorded music. If your church played videos of other artists prior to your service, or you use performance tracks, these activities would not be covered by our Streaming & Podcast License.”

Bottom line – The Streaming License is a pretty simple concept. It is essentially an extension of the standard CCLI Church Copyright License to a webcast.

Here is Your Link To Part II of this Series… Are You Practicing Legally…The Church CCLI Rehearsal License? Part II