Final month, the U.S. Convention of Bishops advised bishops that if parishes need to reprint Scripture in bulletins or worship aids, they have to pay licensing charges to the USCCB for the privilege. Whereas the memo advised the bishops that the charges had been supposed to guard copyright, a USCCB official mentioned Pillar that license charges are principally geared toward discouraging parishioners from producing liturgical worship instruments.
“Many parishes seem to have the ability to reproduce the day by day and Sunday readings of their liturgical aids or bulletins with out a license from the USCCB,” Archbishop Timothy Broglio wrote in a Dec. 4 memo to the U.S. bishops.
The archbishop warned that unlicensed copy of scripture readings “dangers undermining the power of the Convention (on behalf of the Brotherhood for Christian Doctrine) to claim its rights towards industrial efforts that use these translations of Scripture for revenue.”
“I’m asking you to tell your parishes of the scenario and encourage them to turn out to be licensed if they aren’t already. The present price is from $200 per yr for as much as 250 copies per Sunday to $1,500 per yr for 1,500 or extra copies per week,” defined Broglio.
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In accordance with Mary Sperry, affiliate director of copyright and permissions on the USCCB's Biblical Apostolic Workplace, the memo didn’t set up a brand new coverage.
As a substitute, it was meant to remind parishes of the convention's long-standing licensing necessities for worship aids, particularly after they had been relaxed in the course of the pandemic.
“When COVID hit and we needed to shut down public gatherings, I spent a few third of my time on the cellphone with parishes that wished to make use of reside streaming, and so on. And nearly instantly we knowledgeable [bishops] that no permission was wanted if the parishes adopted liturgical legislation.'
“After which once we had been in a position to return, individuals needed to take out the attendance aides and the missals and all that stuff from the pews.” Parishes referred to as us and requested what we must always do. And so now we have waived all license provisions besides that you have to reproduce and acknowledge them precisely [the copyright],” she defined.
“And so, in impact, the December memo mentioned we had been going again to our commonplace coverage.”
This commonplace coverage, Sperry explains, dates again to earlier than the Second Vatican Council, when a bunch of bishops underneath the auspices of the Nationwide Fellowship of Catholic Doctrine translated and revealed a brand new translation of Scripture. Their aim was to make the Bible extra comprehensible to readers than the long-used Douay-Rheims Bible translation, which dates again to the sixteenth century.
Sperry defined that when the bishops revealed the “fraternity textual content” of the New Testomony in 1940, adopted by the Previous Testomony texts, they seen an issue: Publishers usually made “small changes to the textual content … and as you may think about, biblical students had been involved.”
Sperry mentioned that when the difficulty arose, the Holy See's delegate in the USA urged the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine to copyright the textual content of its translation.
“One of the simplest ways to make sure that the bishops managed all of the rights to the textual content was to personal the copyright as a result of that provides us the authorized backing to implement it in the USA,” she mentioned.
“And that's actually why the textual content was copyrighted,” Sperry added.
When the bishops after II. they ready the Vatican Council for the approval of lectors with vernacular readings, ultimately modified the Confraternity Bible Undertaking, and in 1970 revealed the New American Bible—which on the time was one in every of three viable choices for Scripture used within the liturgy—NAB. , Revised Commonplace Model and Jerusalem Bible.
In 1980, Sperry mentioned, most parishes had been utilizing the New American Bible — and when Vatican directions Genuine liturgy went into impact in 2001, the New American Bible turned the one Bible translation licensed for liturgical use in the USA.
Copyright for this textual content stays the property of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., an affiliate of the USCCB, whose membership consists of the Administrative Committee of the Convention of Bishops. The convention manages licensing for NAB within the US and is the agent of the Mexican Bishops' Convention to handle the licensing of Spanish language translations used within the US.
When industrial publishers want to use the New American Bible in missals, lectionaries, or different texts, they’re required to acquire a license from the USCCB.
Sperry mentioned this requirement permits the bishops' convention to make sure that industrial liturgy aids are complete and of top of the range, embrace all authentic choices within the readings, and embrace different issues resembling official directions for receiving the Eucharist and all 4 choices for the Mass Eucharistic Prayer.
“There are tips set forth by the Worship Committee and periodically reviewed by that committee that you have to meet in case you are issuing such a worship support,” Sperry defined.
The licensing settlement additionally permits the convention to guage liturgical aids earlier than they’re revealed, so sources just like the “Magnificat,” “Phrase Amongst Us” or “Ignatius Pew Missal” are reviewed by the USCCB earlier than being offered, she mentioned. .
“The bishops firmly imagine that God's individuals have the suitable to obtain the liturgy in its entirety. And while you see all of the totally different [commercially produced] the stuff that reveals up on individuals's desks or mailboxes has all been checked. Each one in every of these points goes via my workplace at Divine Worship,” Sperry defined.
However it additionally acknowledged that parish liturgical aids aren’t the identical as commercially produced missals and that bishops can use licensing preparations that levy a charge on industrial producers however permit non-commercial use and copy by Catholic parishes, seminaries, cathedrals. and different establishments, together with whereas defending their copyrights.
And Sperry acknowledged that some pastors query whether or not the USCCB fees parishes to breed Scripture as a result of it wants the income. Whereas the cash is among the many convention's different licensing income, Sperry mentioned Pillar that her workplace doesn’t observe license income for a selected parish.
As a result of, based on her, the aim of license charges is to discourage parishes from producing their very own liturgical instruments.
“I truthfully couldn't let you know how a lot cash is concerned as a result of we don't even rely it. It's not one thing I might watch as a result of it's not concerning the cash. If that was the case, I'd watch it. I observe every little thing that’s vital,” she mentioned.
“The factor is, it's not an choice the convention needs to assist.
“The purpose is to encourage the manufacturing and use of sources that current the liturgy precisely and in its entirety,” she added. Sperry mentioned her workplace is anxious that when parishes make worship aids, “they won’t meet the issues that the Bishops' Committee on Divine Worship ought to embrace in a public participation support.”
“I'll offer you an instance: Many parishes wish to publish their little preparation books for funerals or weddings. This is quite common… parishes need to create their very own, so they arrive to me and infrequently use the older type of ceremony. That occurs extra usually than I care to confess.”
“Or with funerals, lots of people write. [readings] of [1989] 'Order of Christian Burials' web site [2002] 'Lectionary for the Mass'”
“Or generally parishes don't embrace all of the choices. Or they may embrace issues that aren’t choices. So it's not concerning the cash. After all, the cash is accounted for. The parish sends a verify for his or her license, we cost it as a result of we take excellent care of such issues. However we don't have separate accounting to say that parish licenses introduced in a sure variety of {dollars} this yr,” she added.
“If I spent a couple of hours I might in all probability observe it down. It's not vital sufficient for us to do it as a result of that's not the purpose,” Sperry mentioned.
Sperry acknowledged that the bishops' convention has no mechanism to systematically assessment or implement licensing insurance policies — and that many parishes possible create their very own “well-liked participation aids” with out a license from the convention.
She estimated that of the roughly 17,500 parishes in the USA, “nowhere close to” 10% are licensed.
“My guess is that there are extra parishes that violate the coverage than we want,” she defined.
“This in all probability received't shock anybody.”
Sperry mentioned Pillar that whereas the USCCB seeks by coverage to discourage parishes from creating worship aids missing important parts, the convention is definitely unable to assessment the worship aids of even these parishes that pay a license charge – that means that even these parishes could also be in violation with convention tips.
However even when the convention coverage has little deterrent impact, Sperry says he thinks the bishops ought to preserve attempting.
For industrial liturgical aids or missalets, “now we have a degree of high quality management so we will say that the textual content is offered right here in its entirety with accuracy. That's why we need to discourage creating these particular person issues frequently.”
“We notice that should you're having a parish picnic Mass, you must have a liturgy since you're in the midst of a subject and also you're not going to take $10,000 value of hymnals into the sphere. I completely get it. However we need to ensure that the integrity is there on a regular basis.”
She acknowledged that license charges could be a burden for some parishes.
Nonetheless, “shopping for vestments can be costly, however you don't present up in your road garments to have a good time the liturgy,” she mentioned.
“The the artwork of celebrating issues. Liturgy at all times deserves the perfect. This additionally applies to liturgical instruments.”
Why?
“The purpose actually is that God's individuals deserve the liturgy in its entirety. That’s actually the priority of the bishops.”