Given the importance of hymns for Christian life and worship, for theology and discipleship, it seems absurd to me that one should have to ask the copyright holder's permission to be able to quote even part of a hymn in a Christian book or academic context. It is wrong that if someone has written a bad hymn I am not allowed to quote it to show how wicked it is.
Thank you for listening. I look forward to the speedy reform of this pernicious law.
P.S. or perhaps I have misunderstood?
Saturday, December 14, 2013
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2 comments:
You have misunderstood. Quoting for the purpose of critique is acceptable fair use and does not require copyright permission. It's a bit tricky with hymns because they are relatively short texts and you need to be careful that you are quoting the minimum required to make your point. You can't quote a whole novel to critique it and you probably shouldn't quote the whole hymn.
Good. I'm glad to hear that. But I'm told that people have gotten into trouble re the publication of their thesis on these grounds. It seems a shame to me.
Having said that, even if you are quoting a hymn merely as an illustration or to commend it as a good expression of such and such a doctrine, I think that ought to be allowed. And the hymn writer ought to think of it as good publicity if anyone reads it and not a problem if they don't.
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