We occasionally run across the well-meaning question of "I can't find this anthem anywhere. Can I just make copies of it?" We completely understand the plight of choir directors who have a well-loved piece that they can't find anymore for their growing choir. But, unfortunately we can't "just make copies of it".
The Music Publisher's Association has a great resource page about the Church Musician and Copyright Law: http://www.mpa.org/copyright_resource_center/church_musician.
Churches can be liable for any copying done by their musicians. Music publishers can and will bring a lawsuit against any person or organization who copies their music without permission.
If there's not enough time to get permission or the copyright holder can't be located, then pick another piece (one you can get permission for or one that is in the public domain). Better to be safe than sorry!
We at the MMF offer a copy license on some of our anthems not available through commercial publishers. For a fee of $10, we provide a church/choir director/musician with one clean copy of the anthem (on regular 8.5" x 11" paper) and permission for that person to make as many copies as needed for their group. Each anthem we send out in this manner will include the phrase "Moravian Music Foundation anthem copies licensed to XYZ* on Date. Any other copying is prohibited."
*XYZ is the name of the church or group for whom the license was purchased.
If your choir grows or some copies of one of these anthems goes missing, then you don't have to re-ask for permission to make additional copies.
Please, familiarize yourself and your musician friends with copyright law. Saving money by making a photocopy isn't worth being sued.
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