So everything stays legal.
Copyright and licenses
Churches depend on other people’s words and music. Here is how we handle them.
What is in our library
Only texts we have checked as public domain. Rights differ by country, so each hymn is checked for yours. Our checks cover the words: tunes and arrangements can be protected separately, so check your hymnal before reproducing music.
Songs still in copyright
Our library does not hold their words. Words you add stay in your account, and off public phone links. Licensed lyrics do not go on the open web. A one-time program needs your own permission too: your church’s license, or the rights holder’s.
Scripture and liturgy
Our built-in Bible text is the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Any other translation or liturgical text is yours to type or paste in, under your own permission, with its credit line. We add the right credit line for everything we supply.
Permissions we hold
We list a permission here only once it has been granted, with the date it was signed. None is listed yet.
Copyright agent
Our designated agent for notices of claimed infringement can be reached at rights@hymnfold.com.
Your license, your record
Hymnfold lists the songs you use, so reporting takes minutes. You still submit your own CCLI, OneLicense or other report, and Hymnfold does not replace a license.
If something here is yours
Write to rights@hymnfold.com. We hide disputed material as soon as a notice arrives, while we look into it. Accounts that repeatedly infringe are closed.