by steveliu » Sun Oct 21, 2012 6:22 am
Dear Johnna:
I only just saw your note here, and I also see that you've posted quite a number of comments on YouTube videos of your mother's song.
While most hymn writers and their families that comment on this forum tend to express joy that their songs are remembered and being discussed and sung, I do take reports from copyright owners very seriously, and so I've edited the posts above so that only a small portion of your mother's original lyrics appear. This, plus the educational nature of this site, should put the usage squarely in the category of "fair use" of US copyright law. I hope this alleviates your concerns as far as this site is concerned.
That said, as Guest (the previous poster) wrote, it would help tremendously if you could provide the readers here with suggestions on how they can purchase the full lyrics and sheet music to your mother's song in a way that your family receives proper royalties.
As Guest also wrote, if you haven't done so already something you should do is join CCLI to make sure that holders of CCLI licenses compensate you for use of the song in church and video streaming performances.
I also presume that you are properly receiving royalties from the artist Chris Johnston, but if not please let us know and I'll remove the link to his album above.
One last piece of advice. While I understand the frustration at seeing your mom's song sung all over YouTube without your permission, bear in mind that practically none of those people are profiting financially from their performances. For the most part, they were moved by your mother's words and just wanted to share them with the world as she did. For what it's worth, my recommendation would be as I stated above: let them (and the readers of this site) know the proper ways they can purchase sheet music, full lyrics, and authorized recordings and perform the song in a way that your family gets its proper royalties. It would be a shame if this beautiful song were to disappear forever.
Thanks,
Steve
Dear Johnna:
I only just saw your note here, and I also see that you've posted quite a number of comments on YouTube videos of your mother's song.
While most hymn writers and their families that comment on this forum tend to express joy that their songs are remembered and being discussed and sung, I do take reports from copyright owners very seriously, and so I've edited the posts above so that only a small portion of your mother's original lyrics appear. This, plus the educational nature of this site, should put the usage squarely in the category of "fair use" of US copyright law. I hope this alleviates your concerns as far as this site is concerned.
That said, as Guest (the previous poster) wrote, it would help tremendously if you could provide the readers here with suggestions on how they can purchase the full lyrics and sheet music to your mother's song in a way that your family receives proper royalties.
As Guest also wrote, if you haven't done so already something you should do is join CCLI to make sure that holders of CCLI licenses compensate you for use of the song in church and video streaming performances.
I also presume that you are properly receiving royalties from the artist Chris Johnston, but if not please let us know and I'll remove the link to his album above.
One last piece of advice. While I understand the frustration at seeing your mom's song sung all over YouTube without your permission, bear in mind that practically none of those people are profiting financially from their performances. For the most part, they were moved by your mother's words and just wanted to share them with the world as she did. For what it's worth, my recommendation would be as I stated above: let them (and the readers of this site) know the proper ways they can purchase sheet music, full lyrics, and authorized recordings and perform the song in a way that your family gets its proper royalties. It would be a shame if this beautiful song were to disappear forever.
Thanks,
Steve