School’s Out but Copyright Education Summer Class Is in Session

July 16, 2015

Summer months find church leaders traveling far and wide…from mission trips…to snow-peaked mountains…to refreshing ocean waters. But no matter how you spend time away, it’s a perfect season to learn more about copyrights and evaluate how your church is doing with compliance.

After Labor Day, when the fall frenzy begins, and holiday programs are on a fast track, there’s little time to plan or even think about copyright licensing. NOW is the time to catch up on your reading list. With that in mind we’re very excited to announce the publication of our newest FREE and downloadable publication, Solve the Puzzle of Copyrights: Six Steps to Learning How to Do Music Right.

I understand that copyright issues can be complex and overwhelming for church leaders. Analyzing your level of compliance is often at the bottom of a long list of priorities. That’s exactly why I developed this college-level copyright curriculum in a six-chapter eBook, as well as in video webinar format. Everyone has different learning modalities, and it’s important to provide material in various formats so that you and your staff can learn and go at your own pace.

CCS’s interactive, online REPORT CARD is another great way to evaluate how you’re doing and discover ways to quickly strengthen your license coverage. It only takes 5-10 minutes…you just have to answer 12 simple questions, and it’s FREE and completely confidential.

I have helped churches for 30 years, and I have listened to ministry leaders bemoan how confusing copyright issues can be, especially with the abundance of creativity and innovation in worship and creative arts. New and accessible technology tools are facilitating an explosion of expressive ways to proclaim God’s Word, especially through audio, media and internet productions. The result is increased use of copyrighted material, and so it’s more important than ever to know how to avoid copyright infringement and risk of fines.

It should be EASIER and SIMPLER to learn what you need to do to honor copyright owners, as well as identify the holes that might be in your licensing coverage. Based on feedback from church leaders, we have developed some great tools that we hope will equip and help you become copyright compliant. As you navigate around THE COPYRIGHT COACH site, you’ll find a wealth of free and downloadable educational materials, so that you can share with your organization’s decision makers, as well as staff members and volunteers.

Our materials include Fact Sheets, Videos, Idea Kits, Webinars, interviews with church leaders and copyright experts, and blog articles on current topics. We would love to hear from you about how our resources are helping your ministry, what additional information you’d like and how we can better serve your needs.

CCS’s Founder and CVO, Susan Fontaine Godwin is an educator and long-time member of the Christian arts community with 30 years of experience in the Christian media industry, church copyright administration and copyright management. Susan is an author and speaker and frequently writes for several Christian magazines and online publications. She serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Mobile.
About Christian Copyright Solutions: CCS’s quest is to help churches and ministries “do music right.”  CCS is an expert on church music copyrights and our primary focus is providing licensing and clear educational resources to churches, as well as representation, administration and advocacy for copyright owners. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. The information contained herein is for informational purposes only, and is not legal advice or a substitute for legal counsel.

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