Many church leaders don’t realize, however, that the Salsa, Hip Hop and Latin music played during these classes require performance licenses to be able to legally feature Zumba at their facilities–whether a fee is charged for the class or not.

“Zumba music isn’t any different than any other music in terms of performance license rights for the majority of its music (the exception: songs on Zumba’s soundtracks, which are original music), so you don’t get a free pass if you play only Zumba-created music,” according to Karen Hellekson, aerobic choreographer and teacher.

You will need a performance license from ASCAP, BMI and SESAC (performance rights organizations in the US) to play music in a public venue. You may not need a license to play Zumba original music (called ZIN) which you may obtain if you are part of the Zumba Instructor Network, but other music you play requires performance licenses.

The good news? There’s an easy, simple and affordable one-stop performance license that includes all music from ASCAP, BMI and SESAC through CopyrightSolver’s PERFORMmusic for one annual fee based on the size of your church congregation, starting as low as $199.

Zumba classes provide a great opportunity for churches to reach out and connect with their surrounding community, touching the lives of many of the unchurched. Now there’s a quick and legal way to feature the uniquely-styled music for the dance classes and honor the music copyright owners.

This PERFORMmusic license covers playing music in your Zumba class (or any dance/aerobic class), as well as throughout your facilities, including the following activities:

• Social events and fundraisers
• Concerts
• Youth events
• Seminars and conferences
• Camps and VBS
• Music-on-Hold
• Music played in coffee shops and book stores

Get PERFORMmusic and keep your church copyright compliant for dance classes and all kinds of other events!

*Christian Copyright Solutions is not affiliated with Zumba Fitness, LLC, and Zumba Fitness, LLC does not endorse or sponsor Christian Copyright Solutions and its products or services.

Not sure what licenses you need?

We can help! We’ll walk you through the entire process and tell you exactly what you do (and don’t) need. Call us at 1-877-947-9687, e-mail us at sales@copyrightsolver.com, or use the Contact Us form and we’ll do our best to answer your questions..

The Super Bowl® has the largest economic impact of any regular human event with literally every demographic engaged in this annual national fervor. While churches won’t be looking to make money on the big game, they will be promoting events to view the classic clash between the Giants and the Patriots in Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN  February 5, 2012.

This year is one of the first in history that churches are preparing for Super Bowl® parties without fear of penalties and interference from the NFL for copyright infringement. Even so, it’s vital that church leaders follow important guidelines to stay inside the playing field and make sure they avoid legal risks of infringement.

CopyrightSolver recently had a chance to speak with an NFL representative regarding the NFL’s policies for churches that want to host viewing parties on Feb. 5th.

CopyrightSolver:
Many Churches enjoy gathering together to watch the Super Bowl® each year, but they are unsure about necessary steps they must take in order to stay copyright compliant when doing so. What requirements must a church meet in order to host a “viewing party?”

NFL:
A church must hold their “viewing party” in its usual place of worship and must not charge a fee for attending such viewing party.  If those requirements are met, the NFL will not object when a church has a party for its congregants to watch the Super Bowl® together.

A key point in the NFL’s response to churches is it’s allowance of a viewing party it "its usual place of worship." This is an important qualification to understand. We understand that many churches do not have a typical church campus and many use rented public spaces to conduct worship services. Here is the NFL’s position on these situations:

CopyrightSolver:
Many churches hold regular services meet in rented spaces (i.e. convention centers, hotel conference centers, movie theaters, and school auditoriums). Does your previously mentioned statement regarding “usual place of worship” also apply to churches in these situations?

NFL:
No, the NFL’s grant of permission is with respect to the church property (not rented spaces).

Over the past several years churches faced warnings and possible legal action if they hosted bowl parties. Thanks to concessions by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, the NFL will not block religious organizations from hosting Super Bowl® viewing parties.

CopyrightSolver:
We also understand that it is important for churches not to use registered trademarks of the NFL in any promotional materials, including via social media or their website concerning the viewing party; which trademarks are most commonly used without permission? And how could they be properly licensed for use?

NFL:
We actively protect all of the NFL’s trademarks.  We have a robust licensing and sponsorship program for use of our marks.  Sponsors typically have multi-million dollar agreements with the NFL; licensee’s can apply on NFL.biz.  Neither of these options really applies to the use of our marks by a Church.

There are some important rules, however, to follow to avoid being tackled with risks of copyright infringement:

• Churches must show the game live on equipment they use in the course of ministry at their premises; recordings of the show are not permitted.
• Churches cannot charge admission for the party. The NFL has stated, however, that churches may take up a donation to defray the cost of the event.
• It’s advisable for churches to call the event a “Big Game Party” rather than a “Super Bowl® Party,” as both the “NFL” and “Super Bowl” are trademarked and protected intellectual property. For example, one church last year called their event a “Souper Bowl” party and asked for donations of canned soup for a local ministry.

Here’s a short list of terms that the NFL holds trademarks to (so refrain from using them!):

• Super Bowl
• Super Sunday
• Team Names, not cities (for example, you can say "New England vs. New York" but not "The Patriots vs. The Giants."
• Do not use the NFL, Super Bowl, NFC, AFC, or any team logos in your publications or promotional materials

CopyrightSolver:
Lastly, since the Super Bowl® is on a Sunday evening, many churches may be unable to view the full game due to conflicts with established worship services.Could a church utilize a digital recording device to make a temporary copy of the game (such as a TiVo, DVR, etc.) so they could watch the game together in its entirety?

NFL:
Yes, the NFL will not object to this. Any additional uses outside the scope of the activities listed above would require permission and licensing from the NFL.

If you wonder how your church would score overall when it comes to copyright compliance, take CopyrightSolver’s free online Copyright Compliance Report Card and find out how you’re doing.

Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your journey this year in serving the Christian community.

We pray you and your families celebrate a joyous and wondrous Christmas season.

-The CopyrightSolver Team

Unfortunately, it can be a very real hazard and risk to neglect copyright licensing, as at least two churches found out this year being slapped with copyright infringement suits.

But it’s not too late to be covered and copyright compliant and stream (live or archived) all your special Christmas and Holiday Musical programs. You can sign up today and instantly be able to Legally Stream all your favorite songs in your Special Christmas Musical Program with WORSHIPcast. And to make it easy and affordable, CCS is offering a special Christmas gift to you: $100 off the $925 annual fee with promo code WCNL1211 now through December 31.

CopyrightSolver’s WORSHIPcast license gives you blanket coverage to stream your performances of more than 16 million Christian and secular songs on your website — including all Seasonal and Holiday favorites.

Let your family, friends, parents and grandparents watch that special musical performance online again and again. Learn more about the legalities of web streaming and watch  the video on Keeping Webcasts Legal.

CopyrightSolver’s WORSHIPcast allows churches to stream their performances of more than 16 million Christian and secular songs, but it does not allow streaming of sound recordings or accompaniment tracks. LifeWayWorship.com features a wide selection of today’s most popular worship song tracks, as well as hymns and special holiday recordings.

Many churches want to stream online their services or special programs, like Christmas and Easter, that may include the use of accompaniment tracks or sound recordings. Now churches and ministries can obtain immediate coverage for unlimited streaming of tracks during the annual term of the license. No reporting is required.

For details, visit:
www.copyrightsolver.com/lifeway.

“LifeWay is happy to join with Christian Copyright Solutions in the Worship Track streaming license. Now churches have an easy, affordable and legal way to use lifewayworship.com accompaniment tracks and multi-tracks in their streamed worship services. We always want to help churches embrace new technology to share the gospel with the world.” – Mike Harland, Director of LifeWay Worship

“We are very excited to partner with LifeWay Worship to provide this vital license for the churches, especially in time for their Christmas programs. Our church customers have been requesting this type of license for many years and we’re thrilled to be able to offer a great solution.” – Susan Fontaine Godwin, Founder/President of CCS

For further information, please contact:
Susan Fontaine Godwin
tel: 251-300-3401     email: susan@copyrightsolver.com

CopyrightSolver’s PERFORMmusic License allows you to play and perform more than 16 million secular and Christian music in any church programs you present, including popular Christmas songs like, “Little Drummer Boy,” “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas,” and “Winter Wonderland.” You can obtain instant coverage as soon as you sign up and pay online.

Although your PERFORMmusic License does not allow you to charge admission for your special events, pageants and concerts, admission fees can be a great fundraising opportunity for your ministry. Now it’s fast and easy to extend your coverage to keep all your ticketed holiday events legal. You must first have the PERFORMmusic License to get the supplemental Ticketed Event Coverage.

Fill out our Ticketed Event Report and send it back to us.

It’s that simple!