Tag: Hymns

Notes on Hymn Copyright

Notes on Copyright

Why copyright hymns?

There is an argument which says that if you write hymns for the church they should be freely available. In principle I have no problem with that at all. But…

All of my hymns are in copyright. So why?

  1. The main reason for copyright is to prevent others altering what you write? Say you have a hymn of praise to Jesus. How would you feel if it was altered to praise to Satan? – with your name attached…
  2. Alteration can be major or minor. At the very least you can ask people not to alter your text without permission, or publish, or use your writing, or music,  in contexts of  which you would not approve, or want to be associated with.
  3. You may, over time, alter your words and not want previous versions to be used. Again, you have control.

Levels of copyright

  1. Your copyright can say ‘may be used freely’ or ‘used freely with permission’.
  2. It can say ‘may be used freely in particular contexts’ – eg., church – but that wider or commercial use requires permission.
  3. A few authors rely on royalties for their living. Copyright and fees become intrinsic. Even then items may be free in certain settings. All of my texts are copyright but I certainly don’t make a living from writing. Many of my texts have been used by, or commissioned by, charities. You can choose whether particular use is allowed or requires a charge.
  4. Even when a charge is taken you can decide whether a royalty is then donated by you to charity.
  5. Today many hymns that are in copyright are licenced for church or education use through Christin Copyright Licencing (CCL) or other licensing bodies.

Types of copyright

  1. Personal copyright. You set the wording. You administer anything to do with he copyright. You retain all benefits in the copyright. On your death benefits would usually revert to your Executor, or whomsoever you designate in your will.
  2. Copyright held by another. In this instance, with a reputable company, you will be consulted on use of the item that diverges from anything you have agreed with the administrator/owner.  You will have a legal contract defining your rights and expectations together with those of the owner.

The benefits here may seem minimal, but can sometimes be substantial. I have a large number of hymns. My copyright holder deals with requests for use, changes of wording (in consultation with me), legal questions (rare, but could include allegations of accidental plagiarism for example), receiving royalites when texts, or music, are used and paying royalties to me, less an agreed proportion which is theirs. The copyright holder is responsible for safe retention of my material. In addition my copyright holder has promoted and published my hymns in ways that I never could have done on my own. On my death my hymns remain available and secure.

© Andrew Pratt 26/11/2024

‘Drones, not angels herald horror’ – a hymn for Remembrance in a new millennium through Advent to Christmas

‘Drones, not angels herald horror’ a hymn for 2024
from Remembrance through Advent to Christmas

Drones, not angels herald horror,
children shelter without hope,
singing now, but hell will follow.  	
God, through grace, give strength to cope.
Here where human hearts are broken, 
all cried out, no tears to shed, 
prayers are held, for fear, unspoken,
shrouded now in clouds of dread.

God reach deep through hateful anger 
bent on vengeance, recompense;
listen through our warring clangour, 
re-enliven common sense.
Guide us through the dust and rubble,
where our blood has stained the earth,
turning fields where all is stubble, 
seeding love that signs new birth.

Andrew E Pratt (4/11/2024)
Words © 2024 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England copyright@stainer.co.uk . Please include any reproduction for local church use on your CCL Licence returns. All wider and any commercial use requires prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd
Metre: 8.7.8.7
Tune: HYFRYDOL; SCARLET RIBBONS or, perhaps, BLAENWERN 

A completely new hymn for 2024 reminding us how different war is now but, nevertheless, with comparable suffering. Suitable, perhaps, for Remembrance and through Advent to Christmas given the continuing situation in the Middle East, Ukraine/Russia and many other places.

Ralph Vaughan Williams – I anticipate an interesting lecture…

Marking the 150th Anniversary of the Birth of Ralph Vaughan Williams on 12th October 1872 at Down Amney, Gloucestershire, our Hymn Society member, John Crothers, will be delivering a Lecture, as part of the Islington Proms, on Monday, 12th September at St James’ Church, Prebend Street, Islington, London N1 starting at 7.30 pm.

The Lecture is entitled:

Ralph Vaughan Williams: An unlikely visionary  

(What drove Vaughan Williams, a ‘cheerful agnostic’, to spend three years editing The English Hymnal?)

Tickets cost £5.00 and may be booked online or purchased at the door on the evening of the event.

As an optional extra, preceding the Lecture at 4.30 pm (for which admission is FREE), is a screening of  O Thou Transcendent: The Life of Ralph Vaughan Williams, Tony Palmer’s full-length film biography of the composer.

Hymns as an evolving genre

There are times in all our lives when we question what is happening and when our faith is challenged and shaken. What happens when we reach the point where it feels as though our faith makes no sense.  For many in contemporary society this seems to be the case. Perhaps circumstance leads them to this point. For others there is the sheer illogicality of believing in something intangible, metaphysical. What then? We cannot force belief on someone, it simply doesn’t work. Fred Pratt Green frames the theme like this:

When our confidence is shaken 
in beliefs we thought secure;
when the spirit in its sickness 
seeks but cannot find a cure: 
God is active in the tensions 
of a faith not yet mature. 
Fred Pratt Green Copyright Stainer & Bell Ltd

In this circumstance faith is incomplete. We do not have the full picture. Arguably, where God is concerned we never can have the full picture, in which case we need to be open to the fact that faith, in Sydney Carter’s words is framed by a creed which is never fixed or final.  I raise a question in the following text:

How can we live at one with God, 
inspired by Christ the living Word, 
infused with all the Spirit's power 
when life is twisted and absurd?

[…] to grasp by faith, to act in love, 
while nothing fixed or final stands.

Put another way:

When life juggles with our learning,
with the things we thought secure, 
then it seems the artist’s palette
spins and faith becomes obscure.

In the wash of different colours, 
as we seek for shape and form, 
others paint their faith by numbers 
forcing God to fit some norm.

But when life has torn the canvas, 
when the numbers twist and slip; 
then we need to find an image 
that will help our hope to grip:

holding us, when we're past holding,
grounding when we're insecure,
till we find a faith, not drifting,
still dynamic, free, yet sure. 

All the above Andrew Pratt unless otherwise stated, verses copyright Stainer & Bell Ltd.