This guidance covers the use of copyright material at funerals and memorial services, but the law equally applies to all printed works.

Section 1: When using our Fully Inclusive Artwork Service

We offer a helping hand with copyright

We now include a free assessment of the copyright permissions required for each order.

Copyright is a complex area that has often been misunderstood. Whilst we are not responsible for copyright, we do feel we are best placed to act as a central pool of information to support everyone involved, including families, funeral directors, chapels, crematoria, gardens of remembrance and the authors whose work is such an integral part of so many funerals and memorial services. We aim to make this as simple as possible, and in most cases it will simply involve asking for a licence number from one of the sources below. Our online order form now has a section devoted to copyright.

Did you know?

Churches, Crematoria and other venues where weddings and funerals take place are ultimately responsible for ensuring all documents used are copyright compliant.
Permission is required to use copyright texts in any printed document, such as an order of service.
Hymns written by authors who are still alive, or who have died in the last 70 years, are generally in copyright.
Liturgical texts from CofE/RC prayer books and extracts from bibles are in copyright.
Copyright words supplied by Wesley Media or Obitus may not be reproduced without permission.
Where permission exists, an acknowledgement must always be included in the document.

Good News! Many permissions already exist

Extracts from liturgical texts and bibles can generally be used if duly acknowledged.
Many popular funeral hymns are out of copyright (in the public domain) and need no permission.
Most copyright hymns and songs can be used provided the venue holds a licence, or written permission has been given by the copyright holder.
Any other copyright texts or images from any source may require additional permission

Licences are available to cover the lyrics of most hymns and songs

Churches, Crematoria, Chapels in Gardens of Remembrance and Funeral Directors can apply for:

Christian Copyright Licence (CCLI) https://uk.ccli.com/who-we-serve/organisations/
OneLicense https://www.onelicense.net/

NB: When no licence exists, a single-use license can be purchased from OneLicense (ONE LICENSE | church music copyright permissions), or written permission can be requested from individual copyright holders.

Any acknowledgements that we add to your proof artwork are a legal requirement under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and should not be removed. If you should have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch: orders@careprint.uk

Section 2: When doing your own artwork, either online or on your own computer

For the purposes of this guidance the user is the person creating the artwork.

Where stationery, such as an order of service, is being used as part of an event in a church/crematorium (venue), the user should ensure that suitable permissions exist for any copyright work the user wants to include.
The ultimate responsibility for ensuring copyright permissions and licenses are in place lies with the venue where the event is taking place. The venue may refuse use of a document that infringes copyright to avoid risk of prosecution.
In the case of funerals, a funeral director may also hold a licence, or the family/funeral director may have secured written permission from another source, such as the author or publisher, in which case the venue's responsibilities would be met.
For all orders that do not relate to a service or event in a church or crematorium the user is solely and legally responsible for ensuring appropriate permission is sought before using any copyright text or image.

In all cases a written acknowledgement to the copyright holder must be included, together with any applicable licence numbers.

We are unable to offer specific advice to the user but information required is freely available online using one of the popular search engines. If the user is using our online design service, they can request a copyright assessment when they place their order. We will offer advice and request their artwork is updated in their portfolio to make it copyright compliant.

The user agrees to fully indemnify and hold Careprint.UK free from any or all claims resulting from copyright or trademark infringement issues on the material supplied, or advice given.

Who owns legal (copyright) rights?

There are three sets of people who have legal (copyright) rights to control the use and reproduction of text/music:

The author(s) of the words
The composer(s) of the music
The publisher of a printed edition of the work

When does copyright law apply?

Copyright normally lasts for 70 years from the end of the year in which the author or composer died, or 25 years from the date of publication for publisher’s rights. If you wish to print any words and/or music of a hymn, song, poem, reading, prayer, liturgical setting or any other text/image that is within copyright, you may need to obtain permission from the person(s) or company holding the legal rights. Note that the author or composer may have assigned the copyright to someone else e.g. a publisher - in which case you need to obtain their consent.

Making the process easier

There are various licences and permissions already in place which cover the vast majority of text and music that you may want to include in the funeral stationery, where such stationery is specifically for a service or event, without needing to source individual permissions. The church/crematorium/venue where the service or event is to take place may already be covered by at least one of these:

For music/lyrics, including hymns, songs and anthems

One License https://onelicense.net/ (includes former Calamus licence holders)
Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) https://uk.ccli.com

If no licence is in place, you will need to secure permission from the copyright holder, or investigate whether a single-use license from OneLicense will suffice: (ONE LICENSE | church music copyright permissions)

Not all copyright hymns are covered by a specific licence. Please see Appendix A below for examples of popular hymns, their copyright status, and which licence covers their use.

For bible readings, liturgical texts and prayers

Various permissions are freely available from individual publishers to allow extracts to be included in documents subject to certain conditions.

Photographs and images

The user must ensure that they either own the copyright for all images submitted to Careprint.UK or that the user is fully licensed by the copyright owner to send/upload the image and to make any subsequent use of it, such as by including the image in a product, or in email and postal communications we send. Any image provided by Careprint.UK is sourced from an appropriate source and covered by a licence for use in our range of funeral products.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Historical family photos often include under 18’s in harmless situations, which may, to a wider audience, be classed as indecent or pornographic. Sending such images to any other party, including Careprint.UK, by electronic or any other means, to be viewed or printed in any manner, either on their own or as part of a printed product, is a criminal offence. Careprint.UK will immediately delete any contravening image/order from their servers, and refuse to print or further distribute the image by any means.

Appendix A

Examples of popular Hymns/Songs for Funerals and their copyright status

Title	Author	Does Copyright Apply?	Covered by CCLI?	Covered by One License?
Amazing Grace	John Newton	NO
Abide with me	Henry Francis Lyte	NO
All things bright and beautiful	Cecil Frances Alexander	NO
Be Not Afraid	Father Robert Dufford	YES	NO	YES
Be still for the presence of the Lord	David J Evans	YES	YES	YES
Be thou my vision	Mary Byrne / Eleanor Hull	NO
Dear Lord and Father of mankind	John Greenleaf Whittier	NO
Going home	Chris Tomlin	NO
Great is thy faithfulness	Thomas O Chisolm	NO
Guide me, O thou great redeemer	William Williams	NO
How great thou art	Carl Boberg	NO
I the Lord of sea and sky	Daniel L Schutte	YES	NO	YES
In Christ alone my hope is found	Stuart Townend	YES	YES	YES
In the sweet by and by	Sanford Fillmore Bennett	NO
It is well with my soul	Horatio Gates Spafford	NO
Jerusalem	Henry Francis Lyte	NO
Lord of all hopefulness	Jan Struther	YES	YES	YES
Lord the light of your love is shining	Graham Kendrick	YES	YES	YES
Love divine, all loves excelling	Charles Wesley	NO
Make me a channel of your peace	Sebastian Temple	YES	NO	YES
Morning has broken	Eleanor Farjeon - written permission required from David Higham Associates Limited	YES	NO	NO
Nearer my God to thee	Sarah Fuller Flower-Adams	NO
O God, our help, in ages past	William Croft	NO
Praise, my soul, the king of heaven	Henry Francis Lyte	NO
Rock of ages	Augustus Montague Toplady	NO
The day thou gavest	Rev John Ellerton	NO
The Lord’s my shepherd	Scottish Psalter	NO
The Old Rugged Cross	George Bennard	NO