Alabama Entertainment Legal Questions

Copyright of a work, such as a song, comes into existence the instant that the song is written. The question here is, who owns the copyright? The general rule is that the author of the work owns the copyright, which in this case would be the musician. There are circumstances where someone who hires a person to create a work can own the copyright, namely under the "work made for hire" doctrine for independent contractors and the employment situation if the author was an employee hired for the purpose of creating such works. Just paying someone to create a work is not enough; if the musician was not an employee, there MUST be a written agreement stating that the church owns the copyright in the songs he wrote. This gets complicated so it would be advisable to consult an IP attorney as there may be other facts that would be relevant. ... Read More

Yes, playing videos for commercial use in public is copyright infringement if you do it without the permission of the owners of the copyright of those videos. You can try to find yourself who the copyright owners are and contact them for a license. You can also contact companies that specialize in this business. For example, the Copyright Clearance Center at www.copyright.com does this type of clearance and licensing work. This is not an endorsement of this company but rather is meant to point you to alternatives to clearing this yourself, which could be very difficult.... Read More