OnSong had received notice from a licensing organization on December 6, 2019 that Rockin' with the Cross does not appear to have secured distribution licenses with publishers according to the Church Music Publishers Association and that OnSong must remove their service from the OnSong app in order to comply with applicable copyright law as of January 17. 2020. The owners of Rockin' with the Cross are working regarding this issue, and we at OnSong are hopeful that they will be able to work with music publishers to resolve this quickly. Once we've received confirmation from publishers that proper licensure has been established, OnSong will be able to reenable this service within OnSong.
What about the content I've downloaded?
Please know that you can continue to use content that you had previously purchased from Rockin' with the Cross without interruption but must maintain your subscription to Rockin' With The Cross to do so.
Is there another way I can import content?
OnSong features the
Add To OnSong action which can be used to import content from websites using the Safari browser on your device. Of course the quality of that content may vary and depends on the website's protection of the content. You must also agree to the legal terms of service of each website that you use since some websites do not permit the usage of content outside of viewing it in a browser.
Is my content Legal?
While it requires a publishing license to distribute intellectual property, this does not apply to use of the content. You will want to check with your content provider to determine your rights as a consumer of the content as we are unsure what their license grants end users. Either way, please make sure that you have a CCLI or similar copyright license to display and print lyrics for congregational worship. This ensures that royalties are paid to the artists who make those songs possible. OnSong values the intellectual property of talented individuals who write the songs that give voice to our faith. We believe that these musicians should be rewarded for their work. We hope that all will join with us in this endeavor.
I've received an email from RWTC saying that this is an OnSong problem and to not update. Why?
OnSong hasn't changed and maintains all required licenses and agreements we have with content providers and publishers. We actively make recommended changes to the app to protect content in both the letter and the spirit of the law. Since the beginning, OnSong has allowed users to import from content providers such as SongSelect and other content providers – right inside the app. These content providers are required by law to maintain a license to distribute content from music publishers in order to operate. It appears that RWTC does not have these required distribution licenses. This will limit your use of RWTC content to their website. In other words, this new discovery makes RWTC integration incompatible with OnSong from a licensing point of view.
Since late 2019, OnSong has implemented mechanisms to ensure we can comply with DMCA takedown notices and other legal requirements. While it is your choice to update OnSong, it is likely that these mechanisms are already in place within the app that you have installed.