I'm known as the “Copyright Nazi” by the staff at our church. While that label is a bit unfair—I mean, in what other scenario is possessing knowledge of the law viewed as equivalent to being a genocidal fascist—it has, nonetheless, stuck.
Recently, I discovered a video produced by one of our ministries linked on Facebook and hosted on YouTube. It featured a host of clips from well-known songs used as background music for a video with a situation that related to the lyrics of the songs. It all made perfect sense and worked well together.
The problem, of course, was that they did not have rights to use those songs in a video. And they certainly did not have rights to broadcast those songs on the Internet. So falling into my aforementioned role, I sent an email describing the problems with having that music on a video connected to our church on the Internet for all the world to see. I was not going to win any popularity contests anytime soon.
One of the responses threw me, though. Paraphrasing from memory, it went something like, “Not being able to use other people's music limits our creativity.” Huh?
Leaving out all of the stuff about copyright and simply focusing on creativity, does that statement ring true? I think that as creative minds in a culture that requires new content 52 weekends a year we sometimes get caught up on quantity and forget about quality. I'm not necessarily talking about production quality, but creative quality. Sometimes, in an effort to get “it” done on time, we are tempted to take the easy way out. Sure, using a recognizable song increases the instant entertainment value and can more easily drive home a theme, but is it really more creative?
I admit that there have been times when I've fallen prey to this temptation in the past. As I continued to create, however, I realized that my creativity was better expressed when I didn't rely on the creativity of others. The process wasn't easier, but the outcome was something that was purely unique. I absolutely borrow ideas and techniques from others, but I put in the work rather than stealing theirs.
What has been most rewarding about this has been involving others from our team in the process. If I cannot find music from our stock libraries that fits a project, I involve our worship leaders in creating a music bed with the right feel. If I do not have a concept that leads viewers to the desired emotion, I involve our drama director in crafting a more effective script. If I do not have the stock footage I need, I involve our volunteers in shooting whatever is lacking.
Every project is an opportunity to create. Every opportunity to create is a gift to do something for the God who created us. If it's worth doing, it's worth putting in the time to do it creatively, and legally.
