CCLI (Australia): CCLI's Royalty Distribution Process

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"CCLI has the vision and potential to be the most significant music resource to a post-modern church living in the throes of a global spiritual awakening."

Martin Smith
Songwriter, Lead Vocalist/Guitarist: Delirious?

CCLI's Royalty Distribution Process

Have you wondered how CCLI distributes the royalties it receives? Here we provide common questions, and their answers, about the process we use for the distribution of funds received as payment for the Licences we offer.

How does CCLI distribute the Licence Fees received from churches for the Church Copyright Licence? How can I know that the royalties are distributed fairly and correctly?

The royalty process is complex, but the following summary describes the process briefly and answers those questions:

CCLI is organized in Regions and Territories. CCLI currently offers the Church Copyright Licence in these Regions:

Africa is made up of the Southern Africa Territory, which includes Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. The Africa head office is in Cape Town, South Africa.
Asia-Pacific includes Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. The Asia-Pacific head office is in Sydney, Australia.
Europe includes the United Kingdom and Eire, Benelux (Belgium, Luxembourg, and Netherlands), the Nordic countries (Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden) and Germany. The Europe head office is in Eastbourne, England.
North America includes the United States and Canada. The North America head office is in Portland, Oregon, USA.

For copyright administration purposes, a Territory may be either an individual country (e.g. Australia) or a group of countries (as in the Southern Africa Territory). In each Territory, CCLI collects a Licence Fee as payment for the Church Copyright Licence, for the reproduction of songs, according to the terms of the Licence. CCLI has worked out with song copyright owners in each Territory the royalty split, the amount of the Licence Fee to go to the song owner and the amount to be kept by CCLI for the administration of the Church Copyright Licence. On or before February 15 and August 15 every year, CCLI distributes the royalties collected to the copyright owners.

How does CCLI distribute the royalties to the copyright owners?

Churches report songs reproduced in a given period to CCLI. The number of churches reporting varies from country to country, depending on the sample size necessary to gather statistically valid results. For example, churches in the U.S. report songs reproduced in a six-month period once every 2½ years, while in Australia, every church must report all songs reproduced for the term of the Licence (one year for the Church Copyright Licence).

For the Church Copyright Licence, reporting of songs reproduced is entered online, in the Online Copy Report.

The data in the Online Copy Report goes into a computer system in-house, which is continually being refined for the process. The song data entry is checked in a number of different ways, and at many stages throughout the process, by several levels of management within CCLI, to ensure the complete accuracy of the data.

CCLI calls some churches to confirm that the songs reproduced were the ones they thought the church meant, and to clarify the songs reproduced.

Each song reproduction reported results in credits for the song, with the number of credits dependent on the number and type of reproductions made, and the size of the church.

The credits from all the song reproductions reported are totaled. This total number of credits is used to determine what proportion of the funds collected should be paid for each song to the copyright owner. Then at the semi-annual royalty payout, the copyright owner is provided, along with the funds, a report of the number of credits and type of reproduction for each song reproduction reported, and details of the total number of credits reported by all churches and total funds to be distributed in that territory. (See the Top 25 Songs lists reported by churches for the last payout.)

The accuracy and completeness of the information the churches provide in the Online Copy Report is vital to the royalty process: if a church does not report a song reproduction, CCLI cannot pay the correct copyright owner, and if a church does not provide all the information CCLI needs to determine which song it is they have reproduced, again CCLI cannot pay the correct copyright owner.

How do we know that CCLI distributes all the money it should?

There are a number of "checks and balances" put in place by CCLI to show its accountability:

Every year CCLI holds an Owner's Meeting for each region, where full details of Licence fees collected, and royalties distributed, are reported. Every song copyright owner participating in the Church Copyright Licence programme is invited to the meeting for that region.
CCLI has an Advisory Council for each region, made up of copyright owners, which communicates regularly throughout the year, and meet at least annually. The purpose of the Advisory Council is to provide input and feedback to CCLI, from the copyright owner perspective. At the annual Advisory Council meeting, CCLI goes into more detail about the royalty process and company accounting. Here are our current Advisory Council members:
- Daniel Thornton, songwriter
- David Garratt, New Sound Publishing and Earthmovers Trust (founder of Scripture in Song)
- Dennis Prince, Resource Christian Music
- Joyce Bray, Crossroad Distributors
- Steve McPherson, Hillsong Publishing
Of course the amount each song owner earns is confidential to that owner, so CCLI cannot go into those details in a general meeting such as the Owner Meeting. A copyright owner can request an inspection of CCLI's books and records relating to that owner's songs.

The Church Copyright Licence programme has been in operation in the United States since 1988, and in the Asia-Pacific region since 1993, and song copyright owners will gladly attest to CCLI's accountability and reliability. (See CCLI's Company Profile for more details of CCLI's founding and history.)

How much do songwriters earn for their songs?

That depends very much on the usage of the song by churches! A song reproduced by one church only may earn a matter of cents, while a song used in many of churches will earn more. The principle applies that the songwriters who most bless the Church, are themselves most blessed as a result of the Church Copyright Licence programme.

Tell me more about songwriters and the CCLI Licence programme.

As outlined above, CCLI distributes the majority of the Licence Fee to the copyright owners (i.e. publishers and songwriters) as royalties. These royalties are paid to those songs that have blessed the churches and have been copied for use in worship services. Read Songwriter Comments to see some of the comments by some songwriters or publishers who have been blessed by the royalties received through the Licence programme.

It has been a real joy for CCLI to see these funds distributed as fair compensation to such anointed, special ministers of song, to see so many copyright owners blessed.

CCLI wishes to thank all the churches around the world who participate in the Licence programme, by contributing the Licence Fee and providing an accurate record of songs reproduced. Thank you for honouring the songwriters who bless your church with their songs.