Prayer Book
Copyright in The Book of Common Prayer is held by the Representative Church Body.
Permission to reproduce the text of any service or prayer is required and requests should be made to the Copyright Secretary, Church of Ireland House, Rathmines, Dublin 6, or communications@ireland.anglican.org
Single occasion use of extracts
The need for written permission is waived for the use of material from The Book of Common Prayer on a particular occasion provided:
- No charge is made for the publication.
- The date and location or name of church are clearly stated.
- The following copyright acknowledgement is made: “Material in this service from The Book of Common Prayer copyright © RCB 2004”.
- Not more than 500 copies are made.
Local orders of service
Where it is desired to produce local orders of service for use on more than one occasion from The Book of Common Prayer (with the exception of Service of the Word) drafts of such proposed orders of service must be submitted in advance to the Copyright Secretary, Church of Ireland House, Dublin, for approval, or emailed to communications@ireland.anglican.org
A numbered licence may then be issued.
The following copyright acknowledgement must be included: “Material in this service is reproduced from The Book of Common Prayer under licence number #, copyright © RCB 2004”.
Church Hymnal
Hymns in the public domain may be freely reproduced. The absence of any copyright notice in Church Hymnal, Fifth Edition, or the supplement to Church Hymnal, Thanks and Praise, indicates such hymns.
The permission of copyright holders should be obtained for any reproduction of a hymn covered by copyright. This applies even to reproduction for a single occasion, defined above.
Annual licences covering the reproduction of the majority of modern hymns may be obtained from Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) in Eastbourne, England (www.ccli.ie or www.ccli.co.uk). This licence does not cover all copyright hymns in Church Hymnal, e.g. those by Timothy Dudley–Smith. The majority of the authors of these make only a minimal charge. Where a considerable fee is asked for, the advice is not to use the item.
Bible versions
Lectionary portions in a dated Sunday leaflet are freely permitted by the copyright holders of most versions in common use. The initials of the version should be indicated in brackets at the end of printed portions e.g. (NIV), (NRSV). If one version is used a note may be appended to the leaflet saying: “Bible portions in this leaflet are from…”
For more extensive use, please consult online guidance which is available by conducting a search for copyright permission and name of version.
The archbishops and bishops of the Church of Ireland recommend the New Revised Standard Edition (NRSV) for parish use and details on use of this may be found at the following link: www.nrsv.net/contact/licensing–permissions
February 2016