Hymnal Copyright

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I'd like to add several new hymnals to this site; but before I do I need to understand some things about copyright. I understand the copyright of the individual hymns, which are all noted with each hymn. What I don't understand is the restrictions I must abide by for the copyright on the hymnal itself. As I understand copyright law (which is to say, not much), the copyright for the hymnal as a whole is for the "Compilation" - the work of selecting, editing, ordering, verse selection and so forth is covered. It seems to me that the spreadsheet describing the contents of the hymnal (or the XML file, or other forms as chosen) might be construed as a violation of the "Compilation" copyright? Is production of a spreadsheet as Hymnary requires covered under fair use or similar legislation? Or should I attempt to contact the Compilation copyright holders to obtain permission?


Comments

The information on the hymnal page spreadsheet is information that can be found in the hymnal indexes. We are allowed to create an index of the contents of a hymnal.

That's as I thought; but I want to be cautious. Law and logic don't always go together. I'm happy to hear that in this case they do. Once I figure out how to fill in the spreadsheet for a hymnal there will be several hymnals coming to Hymnary. Soonish.