Most published choral music is protected by copyright, the score, the arrangement, the accompaniment tracks, and any commercial recording, each separately. Uploading a piece to Choirside and sharing it with your choir is a form of copying and distribution, so it needs the same permission that photocopying would.
This guide is a plain-language starting point, not legal advice. When you’re unsure about a specific piece, ask the publisher.
The short version
Owning printed copies does not give you the right to digitize them. Buying thirty copies of an anthem gives your choir thirty copies to sing from. It doesn’t give you the right to scan one and share the file, any more than it would let you photocopy it.
That surprises a lot of directors, and it’s the single most common way choirs end up infringing without meaning to.
What you can usually upload freely
- Public domain music. Works whose copyright has expired. Most pre-1900 choral repertoire, though editions matter, see below.
- Recordings your choir made. Your own rehearsal recordings of a piece you are licensed to perform.
- Tracks you created yourself. Rehearsal tracks you recorded or sequenced, provided the underlying work is public domain or you’re licensed for it.
- Material the publisher supplies for this purpose. Some publishers sell practice tracks or grant digital rights explicitly. Check what you bought.
A caution on public domain. The work may be out of copyright while a particular edition is not. A modern critical edition of a Renaissance motet carries its own copyright in the editing, typesetting, and any added accompaniment. Look for a clean scan of an old edition, or an edition released under an open license, rather than assuming age alone settles it.
What needs a license
- Scanned or photographed copies of in-copyright sheet music
- Publisher-supplied accompaniment or rehearsal recordings
- Commercial recordings ripped from CD or streaming services
- Arrangements of in-copyright works, including your own arrangement of one
Where the license usually comes from
Most directors already hold rights through an organization rather than individually. Check these before assuming you need to buy anything:
- A blanket license held by your church, school, or trust. Many institutions hold reprint or streaming licenses covering their music use. Ask whoever administers it what it covers, the terms vary, and digital sharing is not always included even when photocopying is.
- A per-work license from the publisher. Usually straightforward to buy, often inexpensive for a single anthem, and the publisher will tell you exactly what it permits.
- Direct permission. For smaller publishers and living composers, an email often does it. Keep the reply.
Before you upload, ask three things
- Is this work in the public domain, and is this edition too?
- If not, does a license cover what I’m about to do, not just performing it, but sharing a digital copy with my members?
- Can I point to where that permission comes from if someone asks?
If the answer to all three isn’t clear, don’t upload it yet. Ask your licensing administrator or the publisher first.
What we do about infringement
Choirside doesn’t check uploads for copyright status, we can’t tell what you’re licensed for. Our Terms of Service make you responsible for holding the rights to anything you upload.
If a rights holder sends us a valid notice, we remove the material and record a strike against the account. Three active strikes in a rolling twelve months means the account is closed. The full process, including how to respond if you believe a removal was a mistake, is in our Copyright Policy.
If you receive a takedown notice
Don’t panic, and don’t ignore it. Read what was removed and why. If you hold a license covering it, you can file a counter-notice, the process is in our Copyright Policy. If you don’t, the removal stands, and it’s worth reviewing what else you’ve uploaded on the same basis.
Still unsure?
Email support@broadheadsoftware.com. We can’t advise you on whether a particular use is licensed, we’re not qualified to, and getting it wrong would cost you more than it costs us, but we can point you at the right questions to ask your publisher.