If a church does not copy music and lyrics in the form of orders of service and service sheets for church services, including weddings and funerals and only performs hymns from hymn books, then no licence is required. Otherwise, a reproduction licence is required if you project lyrics onto a screen or print them in an order of service.
A PRS/PPL license is required if the building hosts events that play music, ie kids’ disco or a wedding reception
Please find below a precis of our CCLI and the activities they cover for churches to do:
The Church Copyright Licence permits churches to project, or print out (and store) copyrighted song and hymn words (including orders of service for weddings and funerals) and written music, to the world’s great worship songs and hymns. It also enables churches to record their services (audio and video) for those unable to attend and translate or make custom arrangements where a published version is not available. Finally it includes Free access to over 230,000 song and hymn lyrics via songselect.ccli.com, which is super helpful when creating a song sheet or order of service.
For more information https://ccli.com/uk/en/church-
The CCLI® Streaming Licence enables churches to stream or upload (and keep online) services that include worship songs and hymns, performed live by your church musicians, with coverage for more than 450,000 songs.
The CCLI Streaming Plus Licence adds in the use of master recordings (artist tracks, backing tracks, and multitracks) from any authorised source during your online services. Both licences include the right to show lyrics as part of the stream, to enable viewers to sing along.
Both the CCLI Streaming Licence™ and CCLI Streaming Plus Licence™ extend the cover of the Church Copyright Licence™ to include online worship.
For more information see https://ccli.com/uk/en/
The CCLI Music Reproduction Licence enables you to legally photocopy or scan typeset pages from many of the songbooks and music publications commonly used by churches and keep those copies or scans for future use. It also permits you to share song words or written music digitally—such as by emailing or What’sApping PDFs to others, or by downloading music from a file-sharing app. (A Church Copyright Licence is required to go alongside a CCLI Music Reproduction Licence)
For more information see https://ccli.com/uk/en/music-
With the Copyright Licencing Agency Church Licence, churches are legally covered to photocopy/scan (and keep those copies or scans) and file-share pages from non music publications. This would include publications such as study books, journals, magazines, bibles, children’s activity books and drama scripts, where permission is required.
For more information see https://ccli.com/uk/en/cla-
The Church Video Licence™ provides the legal cover required to publicly show film scenes (such as you would see at the cinema) during services and church activities. This could include illustrating a teaching point in a sermon, or your children and youth work. When combined with the PRS for Music Church Licence, it also permits churches to show authorised films in full, outside of worship services.
To check if a film you wish to show (in full or in part) is covered by the Church Video Licence, please visit https://ccli.com/check-film
For more information see https://ccli.com/uk/en/church-
Our licences don’t cover churches to show videos taken from YouTube (in fact no licences do) either in your in-person meetings, or online. YouTube describe themselves as a ‘personal use only platform.’ In other words, for showing them in our own homes, or on our personal devices, rather than in a public setting such as a church.
To use videos taken from YouTube in your church (either in your face to face meetings, or as part of an online service) your church will first need to gain direct permission from the copyright owner/publisher of each song/video used.
SongSelect Lyric Videos are different. Built from the ground up in response to customer feedback, they combine ease of use with simple customisation. Plus, they’re always ad-free and fully legal for use in your worship services and church activities. Full information on SongSelect Lyric Videos can be found at https://ccli.com/uk/en/lyric-
On its own, the PRS for Music Church Licence allows churches to host live music performances outside of worship services (on their premises) including up to six concerts/recitals a year. Separate church halls are also covered, provided the predominant use of music is for church-led activities. A PRS for Music Church Licence combines with the Church Video Licence, when showing authorised films in full, to cover for the soundtrack.
For more information see https://ccli.com/uk/en/
Combining both the PPL Church Licence and the PRS for Music Church Licence enables both live music and commercial music recordings to be played on your church premises, outside of worship services (such as background music played at socials, outreach events, clubs and classes) from CDs, MP3s, or DVDs, or via music streaming services such as Spotify. Music played via a radio or television (where an appropriate TV licence is in place) is also covered. As well as church arranged activities, the PPL and PRS Church licences enable live and recorded music to be played, during activities arranged by third-party groups or individuals using your building. Music (live or recorded) played during regular worship services, including wedding and funeral services does not currently require licensing, except for if it is placed online.
For more information see https://ccli.com/uk/en/
SongSelect is your simple, single source of worship lyrics, chords and sheet music. Transposable, customizable, and seamlessly accessible in your favourite presentation, planning, and worship applications. Drawn from a database of 230,000+ worship songs and hymns, SongSelect delivers the lyrics, chords, lead sheets, and vocal sheets you need.
For more information see https://ccli.com/uk/en/
More information on licences for churches (and pricing, based on your average Sunday attendance) can be found at https://ccli.com/licensing