Music 245: Music and Social Justice

Community sing-ins, as planned public events, are likely to count as public performances for the purposes of copyright and licensing. Part of organizing a community sing-in is verifying you have the appropriate licenses for public performances.

Public performance licenses are usually handled by the VENUE,  not the the performers or the organizers. If you intend to program music that is still in copyright, confirm with the venue (Northfield Public Library, for example), that they have licenses through ASCAP or BMI for onsite musical performances.

If your venue owns songbooks (hymnals, for example) in sufficient numbers for the community sing, materials in those books are available for you to program.

Here are some other options for finding songs.

Good question! What you are permitted to do as an student, as an educator, and as a community organizer are all slightly different!

The main thing to remember is that no use is automatically considered "fair." Every situation is evaluated on its own merits according to the four factors outlined below. Your willing to use copyright material without a license is based on the amount of risk you are willing to assume. 

Factor 1: Nature and Purpose of the Use

Fair use favors uses in non-profit, scholarly, education, or personal contexts. To the extent that your Community Sing In is part of your coursework and hosted at a non-profit organization, the use of copyrighted material may be considered fair, depending on the other factors.

Factor 2: Nature of the Copyrighted Work

Copyrighted works that are more creative in nature (poems as opposed to research articles, for example) are generally accorded stronger protections. Songs, as highly creative works, are less likely to be considered available for fair use.

Factor 3: Amount and Significance of the Work Used

Claims of fair use are more likely to be upheld if only a portion of the work is used, especially if that portion is not the most significant or meaningful portion of the original work. Since your Sing Ins will likely involve singing the entire song, this factor is not in your favor.

Factor 4: Effect on the Market for the Original Work

A ruling in favor of fair use is most likely in cases where there is no readily licensable version of the work. If you wish to program a song, and there is a licensable version available, you are unlikely to be using the song fairly without that license. This is true even in a non-profit or educational situation, because your use of that song has a direct impact on the creators' ability to profit from their creation.

DO NOT PANIC!

Remember, your venue may already have performance licenses for copyrighted works, in which case fair use claims aren't even an issue for you! This is why you want to check with your venue!

Also remember, public domain music is a thing! Music made available under Creative Commons licenses is a thing! There are ways to access music that you can use!

If you have questions, ask Karen. Part of her job is to help you navigate these questions as part of your education and to prepare you for your work as professional musicians and/or community organizers.