Why should our congregation purchase an Augsburg Fortress license?
 
How will an Augsburg Fortress license assist congregational worship?

By assembling worship materials in an easily accessible format, worship planners can address parish concerns for hospitality, evangelism, and liturgical diversity.


What is a copyright license?

A copyright license is a legal contract granting a limited permission to reproduce copyrighted material under specific circumstances. A license typically states what material may be reproduced, what uses are permissible, and for how long permission is granted.

There are a number of copyright licensing systems available. Some licenses cover material owned by many different copyright holders; others pertain only to material controlled by one publisher, composer, or organization. No copyright license covers material from every publisher.


What does an Augsburg Fortress copyright license allow our congregation to do?

An Augsburg Fortress license makes it easy to legally reproduce the copyrighted material that it covers. With the appropriate license, your congregation may be able to:

• Create complete service folders that contain liturgical text and music, as well as hymns and songs
• Assemble a presider's notebook with the complete text and music for a service
• Prepare overhead projections with the text of hymns and songs
• Use recordings of your worship service in your ministry to people who are homebound
• Develop material for many other creative worship and parish uses

We plan to collect our favorite hymns and liturgies and print them in a songbook for use in our congregation. Will a license cover this?

The licenses are designed to cover single-use publications; for example, Sunday morning worship folders and program booklets. They do not authorize use in a songbook or other resource that will be used on an ongoing basis.

To obtain permission for the use of Augsburg Fortress material in your songbook, Contact Us for copyright permission.


Do we need to purchase an Augsburg Fortress electronic product in order to get a copyright license?

No. Licenses cover the reproduction of copyrighted work. While you might wish to purchase an electronic product such as the Hymns for Worship CD-ROM to provide access to a digital file containing the copyrighted material, the licenses are useful even if you want to photocopy a hymn or liturgy from a printed publication.