Music Licensing
  • KeyCount101
    Posts: 1
    So we have this hardcover black Missal in our parish now, ILP's Book of Sacred Liturgy, which is sorely lacking in music choices. A nearby parish which uses Breaking Bread, agreed to gift us their outgoing Year C Breaking Bread books rather than recycle them, and I had thought this would be an excellent way to get a music supplement for the parish. Only in recent days I come to find out that, OCP only licenses the use of the books for 1 year, even to the parish that buys them, so that if we use them for music in our parish, we are in some way violating this license. This has me really frustrated - on the one hand, OCP is on the opposite side of the country from where we are, and even OCP admitted to me that "we have no way of knowing what parishes do with their old Missalettes when they are finished with them" (they are supposed to recycle them). I was thinking, surely OCP doesn't have "music police" all over the country checking up on parishes, but at the same time I wouldn't want the parish to be fined or challenged legally. I'm wondering if there is any way around this - can we pay for a license to use the old Missalettes for music? As the music director, I see that the accompaniment books are not cheap if you buy them separately - over $100 - but apparently they give you the accompaniment books if you order and pay for 50+ Missalettes. Unfortunately, I can't see my little parish paying a small fortune for 150 to 200 Missalettes that will only be usable for a single year. Anybody know of an alternative as a music supplement that would not cost an arm and a leg? Any help would be greatly appreciated - this is very frustrating.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,216
    Look at the annual license options at onelicense.net. A license from them would allow you to reprint any of the music they cover, which probably includes most of OCP's publications. Maybe you could ask OCP to approve your use of the books on condition that you buy a license.

    OTOH, using the old missalettes, even with OCP's permission, may confuse people who try to look in them for this year's scripture readings.
    Thanked by 1CCooze
  • irishtenoririshtenor
    Posts: 1,325
    If all you want is OCP's song selection (I don't know why on earth you would want such a thing, but that's another matter entirely) you could try to find some old editions of Journeysongs. The ordinaries would be with the out-of-date RMII texts, but the hymns could still be used.
  • Marc Cerisier
    Posts: 537
    Well, as a matter of equity to the composers and lyricists represented in Breaking Bread, I would suggest it would be a poor choice to use them beyond their licensed period. Because they're licensed to be used for only one year, the royalties are less than if they were licensed for permanent use—which is one of the reasons disposable resources can be less expensive (in the short term!) than a permanent resource.

    As to options, the very best option for a parish is to have a reprint license and then be able to use music from almost any publisher—I always have hated being locked into a single source for music. I'm in that position right now, and I find it awful, and while the parish won't buy an annual reprint license, I find myself purchasing individual licenses for certain pieces that I really want to use.

    The second option would be to go with a hymnal, but finance it. I know I've seen GIA offer this option. Other publishers might also, and if they don't, the diocese could probably help.
    Thanked by 1PolskaPiano
  • Don9of11Don9of11
    Posts: 708
    We purchased the Gather hymnal a fews years back and parishioners could donate toward a hymnal in the name(s) of loved ones. A label, I presume provided by GIA was then glued into the inside cover of the hymnal, it reads "GIFT OF so and so IN LOVING MEMORY OF so and so". Quite a few individuals and families from the parish did this and it help defray the cost of the new hymnals. It's an option to consider.
  • PolskaPiano
    Posts: 255
    I don't like OCP's model, but they way it is set up, you would be unjustly using the books. The composers deserve to get paid for their music.

    From what I understand, the OneLicense is not to be used as a replacement for choir music, but for congregational reprints and use. For example, if I like an OCP song, (I have purchased a few this year), I purchase the octavo for the choir and use onelicense to report the reprint in the bulletin and the projection on the screen.

    One way to expand your rep. is to get free hymns that are copywrite free and then budget a couple hundred every year to build up your repertoire with a few new songs each year.
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