>Every Christian knows that stealing is wrong. Christians know by heart what the eighth commandment says: “You shall not steal.” To steal means to take possession of that which belongs to another person.
The Hebrew word for “stealing” covers a wide range of thefts, including music.
James Michael Stevens, a prolific musician, has written an article in which he tells of his experience with churches and Christians singers who use his music without paying royalties.
The following is an excerpt of his article:
The second example is of another church that has thousands in attendance every Sunday and which may indeed be the world’s largest. The church was selling about 20 different CDs on the church’s website that contained our song. I contacted them to see if I could get some copies of the CDs and to make them aware that all of them had been done without permission, without our knowledge and without paying royalties. Since the church was merely selling them and were not the record producers, I thought they would want to know since their church was one of the world’s best known with one of the most famous pastors of all time. The next day, someone went on the church’s website and removed the title of our song from the song list of each of the CDs. Now understand that they were still selling the CDs, and our song was still on each of them, they just removed our title from the list so no one would know.
Now let me share some of the reasoning that Christians gave for illegal copying:
One person said that the fault of the illegal copying was with the greedy record companies, because the record companies charged too much for their CDs. Since they charged “too much,” then this made it OK for the music to be copied without permission. Hey, if they cost too much, don’t buy them. Perhaps some in the record industry would like to give their input, but my guess is that they actually lose money on many if not the majority of releases.
Here was the logic from another party, which was actually a man in a Christian singing group. The young man said in essence that he had made illegal copies of a CD from a name artist and gave the copies to friends including a minister of music at a church. The minister of music listened to the CD and liked it so much that he invited the artist to his church to perform. The artist got a “gig” and was able to sell “legal” copies of his CDs at the concert. The question to me by the infringer was “Did my making the illegal copies hurt or help the artist?” .Or does the “end, justify the means?”
Another gentleman, who was also a Christian musician, suggested to me the bible does not even support the idea of intellectual property rights and therefore, there was no such thing as giving a valid “moral” argument for the refraining from copyright infringement, only a “legal” one. There were many other bizarre justifications as well.
Read the article by clicking here.
To pilfer music without proper acknowledgment is one way by which countless Christians violate the eighth commandment. And this kind of stealing is not a victimless crime. Christians composers make a living from their work.
In his book, Written in Stone: The Ten Commandments and Today’s Moral Crisis (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2003), Philip Graham Ryken wrote: “There is theft of intellectual property, the violation of copyrights, including the unlawful duplication of music and videos” (p. 173).
It is sad that some of the people who are pilfering music are some of the same people who advocate that the Ten Commandments be exhibited in public places.
Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary
Tags: Christian Music, Stealing, Ten Commandments
Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament 
>Claude, by and large I agree with what you SAY. However, I think it is one-sided the music industry does make big profits, and does so currently by trading on the past incapacity of ordinary people to reproduce recorded music. Gradually over the last generation, and explosively over the last few years this has changed. But the Dinosaurs will not adapt (think Sony hacking into your computer without permission). I also have reservations about the whole Christian Music Industry, if music IS a ministry, then it should be funded and supported like other ministries are. Not through the grasping selfish mechanisms of an “industry”. I am deeply saddened when I hear of copyright Bibles, that people cannot copy to disseminate, I am equally sad when I hear of Christian Musicians who make more than a good living out of “selling” the gospel, just like the worst TV Evangelists. Next thing Pastor X will copyright his sermons, and how long before Disney trademarks the term “Gospel”.So, I agree with what you say, but I wish people would say and do more to help undo this sad commercialisation of what should be good news for everyone!
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>Tim,I have mixed feelings about your comments. On one hand, I know that the music industry makes a lot of money by selling their songs. But on the other hand, Christian artists have the right to earn their living by selling their songs. No one has to buy their music and no one has the right to steal their work.I have a friend whose book was translated into another language without his permission or the permission of his publisher. Those believers in another country just took his book, printed, and made money by selling the book. My friend who wrote the book did not even know that someone else was selling his book for profit.It does not matter how much profit the “industry” makes. Their profit does not allow others to use their music without proper payment. Just because Eerdmans makes a lot of money selling book, this alone does not give me the right to go to the SBL and take one of their books without paying.Claude Mariottini
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>Claude, so just what part of my comment is it you disagree with?
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>Tim has brought up some interesting aspects of this issue. But let’s look at the OT exegesis here. You imply that God’s words to the Israelites “Thou shalt not steal” (Exodus 20:15 KJV) apply directly to breach of copyright. But by normal exegetical procedures we have to consider what these would have meant to the original speaker and audience. Did God have breach of copyright in mind? That we can never know. But I think we can be certain that the Israelites would not have understood him as referring to breach of copyright, theft of intellectual property, or anything of the sort (not least because they then went on to breach Hammurabi’s copyright on some of his laws!) The idea is absurd because it is anachronistic by something like 3000 years. The law was clearly intended to apply to theft of material objects only, not of “intellectual property”, a concept which was first known less than 200 years ago and only widely understood in the last 40 years – although it is said that in the Talmud there was “a prohibition against “Gnevat daat” – literally the theft of ideas”.So I really don’t think we should be claiming that breach of copyright is a breach of the Ten Commandments. Rather it should be understood by Christians in the way that I think it is understood by the courts, not as a criminal offence, but as a wrong to one’s neighbour which should be pursued through civil courts.
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>Tim,Maybe I disagree with your statement about the music industry. The industry is a big business and they are in the business of making money. If people don’t like that they are making a lot of money, then they should stop buying from them.Also, Christian musicians choose to make a living by selling their music in the same way Christian teachers choose to make their living by teaching. If Christian musicians would give their work for free, they would have to find another way of making a living.It is sad but true that the commercialization of some aspects of Christianity has hurt the church. To a certain extent, the church today has become a big business.Claude Mariottini
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>Peter,I agree with you that the commandment has a clear reference to theft of things and objects that belong to another person. The theft of intellectual property is a recent development that did not exist in the days of Ancient Israel. Thus, we cannot judge Israel’s use of the laws of Hammurabi by today’s standards.Christians today have a higher standard. The tenth commandment is clear: “You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Exodus 20:17). A song written by a Christian musician is his property and under current laws it is protected under intellectual property rights. To take by stealth what belongs to another person is theft. Christians should respect the rights and property of another Christian.We are dealing with a gray area of the law but I believe the law is on the side of the owner of the song.Claude Mariottini
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>Claude, you conclude your reply:It is sad but true that the commercialization of some aspects of Christianity has hurt the church. To a certain extent, the church today has become a big business.My point is that it is much worse than sad. I think it undermines the very gospel. Church as big business (or any other sort of business) is at best a denial of the gospel, and probably worse an attemptto price grace. If the “Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God’s creation” will spit out the lukewarm church of Laodicea what will be be the fate of a church that is a profit-making business?
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>Dear Claude,Thanks so much for posting this and engaging a needed discussion on the subject of copyright infringement among Christians.May God bless your work and ministry!All the best,James Michael Stevens
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>I’ve been searching for some discussion on Christians and copyright. I think Tim earlier made the most lucid comment on this issue.I find it strange that Christians buy hook line and sinker the concept of Copyright. Its a modern concept, designed to ensure that you continue producing creative work. But someone seems to forget that they right has crept from 17 years to life + 70 and even worse in that US. Is that protecting a livelyhood or enrichment?I don’t think this debate has anything to do with whether copying Christian music is stealing. Or any of the arguments to justify it.I guess what I find most ironic about these debate is how they so often justified by the fact that a worship musician needs to make a living. Ironic since I meet secular musicians who give their music away, encourage people to copy it and enjoy people using their music.While people who supposedly have a gift from God want to make sure nobody can do any of that. WOW!I always thought Christians were meant to be the thought leaders but on this topic we are most certainly the most conservative.There are many ways to constructively share music protecting the rights of the producer but ensuring that the work is made available for others to use and enjoy.
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>Dwayne,Thank you for your comment. I appreciate your words and I agree with you that life + 70 years is too much. The availability of copyright free material on the Internet has enriched the lives of millions of people.However, if a person takes the time to write a book or compose a song, that person should have the right to be compensated for his or her work. When a Christian musician chooses to make a living by writing and publishing music, no one should have the right to use that work without compensating the author.Everyone has a choice. A person can choose not to use a song, but if one uses the song, then one should pay the royalty. The law may be unfair and even ridiculous, but as a Christian, one cannot break the law just because we think the law is unfair.Few people like to drive at 55 mph but when the state patrol catches someone breaking that law, to claim that the law is unfair does not release that person from paying the speeding ticket.Claude Mariottini
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>There is no such thing as ‘intellectual property.’ That term is designed to mislead. If products of the intellect were truly property the rights to them would not expire ever.They are copyrighted. They are not property.
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>Dear Friend,Let us suppose that I write a book that presents a unique formula which can accomplish something unique. Don’t you think I am the owner of the concept? If I copyright the book, am I the owner of the copyright? The copyright gives me ownership as the developer of the concept. That means that the concept is my intellectual property protected by copyright. The law allows me ownership of the book and the concept for life plus 70 years. Whoever copies my book and my concept without permission is taking what does not belong to them. This is stealing and this is the law, whether we like it or not. Claude Mariottini
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>Gentlemen,I am fascinated with your discussion. My beliefs on this matter lean as far towards Christs furry in the temple when people made His house a market place to completely sympathizing with the artist who is so often not appreciated within the walls of the church. What happened to Christian art driving society? I digress. I have been reading all of the copyright laws trying to get closure on a situation that our church finds itself in. For the past few years we have been making CD’s to help our choir members learn their music (especially parts) in a short period of time. We do not use the recordings of the artists who originally created the work. We have our staff make a very rough creation of each part that usually consists of only a guitar or piano and one voice dividing out on separate CD’s each part. These are by no means copies that we make money from. They are not used even for entertainment because they are just simply very poor recordings, but they serve the purpose – helping us learn our music to lead the rest of our congregation in worship. Is this illegal? Is this stealing? Your thoughts, though understandably not the voice of authority on this matter, would be greatly appreciated.Karla Scordino
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>One other thing…with regards to “intellectual property”…who gave you your intellect? God. God designed us to think but most importantly to share. The gospel is not the only thing we have to share with each other. I understand that your intellect can, as in your example of creating a unique formula, bring you some monitary gain. That is with all products. However, I believe we have taken this “intellectual property” idea to a very unhealthy and dare I say sinful extreme of greed. We all need to make a living. But, God will provide for all our needs. Do you believe that? I believe our self-love – what some would call ego – has inflatted us so big as to think that someting we create is really ours to begin with. It is not. You place this in the Christian music industry…why write a song? To make millions of dollars? To be famous? Or, to bring Glory to God? Encourage the believer and bring Truth to the unbeliever?
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>Karla,The law allows people to make copies of music for personal use. Since the copies you make are for practice only and not for sale or for public presentation, I think the concept of fair use allows you to make those copies. What would be a violation of the law is if those copies were then sold or used in public presentation without giving credit to the artist.I will address your second comment with a separate answer.Thank you for visiting my blog.Claude Mariottini
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>Karla,Intellectual property means that when I create or invent something, that something belongs to me. I should have the right to sell what belongs to me. When someone takes what belongs to be that is a violation of the law.You said: “We all need to make a living. But, God will provide for all our needs. Do you believe that?”My answer is, “Yes, I believe that.” However, think for a moment. If I choose to make a living by making a movie, then my living will come from what I created. But if somebody steals my movie, how I am going to make a living when I do not own my movie? God can provide for my needs, but my movie has been stolen.The same goes with music. I can write a song and give it to the church to use it for free because my living comes from another source. But if I chose to eat my bread by selling music, then when someone steals my music I cannot eat bread. God can provide a sister or a brother to give me some bread to eat but I will have no money to buy my own bread because someone stole my music.We may not like the copyright law but it is the law of the land. The solution is not to break the law but to change the law.Claude Mariottini
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>I live in the Czech republic, as part of the EU. I know that the government hasn’t yet implemented the recent EU directive on copyright laws. I watch some old films on YouTube, the watching of which is not illegal here, as far as I know. But, are you saying that I have to apply the moral commandment regarding stealing to what seems to me to be ‘only’ an issue of legality?I also sometimes watch P2P broadcasts of sport in England from China. The company which owns the copyright in Ireland doesn’t broadcast here in Czech so I can’t access it by satellite. The company in Ireland sells the programme rights to China and the Chinese put it on the Internet. I am not, as far as I know, breaking any law here by watching these broadcasts, but am I breaking some moral law?
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>Dear friend,You are not breaking the law. Since the company in Ireland sells the program to China and China puts it on the Internet, it is not illegal for you to watch it.The whole issue of copyright laws is about legality of what is done. Copyright laws may be unfair and unjust but they are the law. If one does not like the law, one should not break the law but should work to change it.People who obey the rule of law should obey copyright laws even when we may not like those laws.Thank you for visiting my blog.Claude Mariottini
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