Summer 2010 | Volume 108 | Number 656

Be Part of a Unique Lutheran Playlist!

Lutherans have long been known as "the singing church." As a way of sharing the proud past and bright future of Lutheran music, Thrivent magazine is launching a new page that will feature the original faith-based compositions and/or professional performances of our members and others affiliated with the Lutheran church. The songs will be available starting in late October for free download via Thrivent magazine.

All songs must be submitted electronically using the online Song Submission Form.

All lyrics, music, and compositions are protected by copyright law. In addition, the sound recordings of the foregoing are also subject to copyright law. This means that a particular recording of a song may have various copyright owners (e.g., the owner of the copyright in the sound recording, the owner of the lyrics, the owner of the composition or arrangement, etc.). The individual musicians may also have copyrights. Among other things, this means you may not do any of the following without first obtaining permission (normally through a license) from the various copyright owners:

• Copy the work.
• Distribute the work.
• Modify the work (e.g., adding your own lyrics to an existing composition, using excerpts of lyrics in your own composition, combining various existing works, etc.).
• Perform the work.

In choosing to share a song, you must respect the copyrights of others. That means either creating a song that is entirely original, not based on any pre-existing song or music, or obtaining all licenses and other rights necessary to share a song in which others have copyright interests. Since it can be complicated to obtain rights from others, we strongly recommend you submit only completely original works that you, yourself, perform and record.

In any event, if you desire to share your song, you are responsible for ensuring you have satisfied the following criteria:

• It must be an entirely original composition and free from any copyright restrictions of others.
• If other performers are involved in performing your song or a third party makes the sound recording, you are responsible for obtaining appropriate releases from them to ensure you have the rights necessary to submit your song to us.
• If not an original piece, you must obtain proof the songwriter, performer(s), person(s) making the recording, and all others involved in the production have agreed to your use of their work. If the original author is deceased, the song must be in the public domain.
• The songwriter, performer(s), person(s) making the recording, and all others involved in the production must confirm they are not under contract with anyone that would prevent or limit the right to host the music on Thrivent.com.
• The songwriter and performer(s) must be Lutheran or have a strong connection to Lutheranism.
• The song must be faith-based and must be free of obscenities or other inappropriate material (as determined by the Thrivent magazine staff, in their sole discretion).
• All submissions, using the Song Submission Form, must include the song in an MP3 format and the accompanying written lyrics.

By submitting a song, you give us permission to make it available for download on Thrivent.com and otherwise use the song in connection with our business without additional compensation. In addition, you grant us permission to use your name or your group's name and your city and state of residence and biographical information on the site and otherwise in connection with our business.

If your song is selected for the site, you will be notified via email. By accepting your submission, we do not assume any obligation to make it available on Thrivent.com or otherwise use the work. The decision to make the song available will be in our sole discretion. We may remove a song at any time, without notice.