Weddings and Copyright
Weddings and Copyright
Important information to be aware of when planning your wedding.. You may be considering using music and poems/readings within your ceremony, if so please read on. The below information is general information only and is not a substitute for legal advice. More information about copyright in Australia can be found below and on the Department of Communications and the Arts website.
Playing music at weddings
Playing music in public requires permission from the owners of copyright in the music, lyrics and the sound recording. The couple’s wedding professional or venue may already have certain copyright licenses. However, performances of music at events such as weddings will not generally be in public even if they occur in a hotel, wedding hall or restaurant, as these events are considered private in nature.
Reproducing poetry or literature
Copyright in published works generally subsists for the life of the author plus 70 years (and will have expired if the death of the author was prior to 1 July 1958). If the work is first published after the death of the author, copyright in the published work subsists for 70 years from the date of the first publication. Reproducing a literary or dramatic work on a printed order of service (as opposed to merely reciting it) may require the permission of the copyright owner (author or publisher). Taking one short poem or extract from a large edition is unlikely to require permission from the owner of the copyright in the edition.
Reading or reciting an extract from a book
Reading or reciting a reasonable portion of a published literary or dramatic work in public (provided the work is acknowledged) is an exception to copyright and no permission needs to be obtained.
Reproducing hymn or song lyrics in wedding booklets
As literary works, hymns or song lyrics are generally protected for the life of the lyricist plus 70 years. Where the author died before 1 July 1958, copyright will have expired. Therefore, in many older hymns or songs, they can be freely used. If the lyricist is still alive permission to reprint the lyrics may be required. If there is doubt about who the music publisher is, or their contact details, the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners’ Society (AMCOS) may be able to assist.
Filming wedding ceremonies
The Australasian Performing Right Association and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (APRA|AMCOS) and Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA) provide a one-stop licence for incorporating music into films of weddings where those films have been made solely for the purpose of domestic viewing. The licence covers the separate rights in the underlying works and associated sound recordings.
Moral rights
In addition to economic rights, authors of works also have moral rights over their works. This means that where material is reproduced, although a licence or permission from the copyright owner may not be necessary or has been obtained, there are still requirements to acknowledge the author and to not falsely attribute the work. Moral rights also protect the author against the derogatory treatment of their work. Caution should be exercised when making changes to hymns, literary pieces and musical works. Moral rights over literary, musical or artistic works last for the duration of copyright protection.