• General end of the school year youth ministry stuff
• Speaking in our main services two weeks in a row
• Moving YouthMinBlog.com to a new server home
• Redecorating YouthMinBlog.com
• Starting work with a new website client
• And generally enjoying life!

Don’t worry, I’ll be back real soon!

What have you been up to lately?

_______________________

Ok, raise your hand if you’ve ever actually read that little FBI warning at the beginning of a movie! Well, lucky (and unlucky) for us that little warning has absolutely nothing to do with showing a movie in a youth ministry setting.

Over my years in youth ministry I have moved through the following progression when it comes to the issue of movies and copyrights.

• intentional ignorance on the matter of copyright law
• learning a little about it and then not really caring too much
• taking the copyright issue pretty seriously

About 7 or 8 years ago, when everyone was rocking Napster (the illegal predecessor to napster.com) I began to do some research on the reasons why breaking the music copyright was so bad. Hopefully, all of us are now on board with that issue by now, but that issue got me thinking about other areas of copyright law.

I’ve realized that as a representative of Christ in my community and as a model for my church, I need to “play by the rules” in order to not only live a “life that is above reproach,” but simply so I’m not stealing from others.

On to talking about movies, though…

Common Misconceptions

1. The FBI warning says that I can’t charge money for people to watch the movie so my event is ok.
The FBI warning actually pertains to an individual showing a movie within their home.

2. As long I am using the movie as a church event I am within the copyright laws.
This is a false statement because the only instance in which a movie may be screened, outside of a home, without a license, is in a non-profit educational setting with “face-to-face instruction.”

3. If I make a lesson out of the movie I want to show I will be within the copyright laws.
A non-profit educational setting has previously been specifically defined as a non-profit academic institution. The main activity of a church is not academics.

4. My church has the CVLI license, so we can show movies at any church event that we do.
This license only pertains to a church showing movies “in its facility(ies.)” This means that if you have a current CVLI license, you may show any legally obtained movie in your church property. (See points 1 and 4 on this page at CVLI.com.)

Also, the CVLI license only covers those movies “produced and/or distributed by CVLI affiliated motion picture companies only,” according to point 6. But you may be able to contact the motion picture company and get written permission to show the movie. As the copyright holder, if it is the copyright holder, it can waive its rights and grant a church or ministry permission to show the movie. If you want to do this, do it well in advance, the process is s l o w.

5. I can throw up a sheet, a PA system, and a projector to show the movie in the back yard of the church because I am within the church property.
The CVLI license specifically says that movies can be screened in its facilities. Upon speaking to a representative at CVLI, I pressed for clarification of “in facilities.” The answer that I got was that you would most likely be within the spirit of the agreement if the movie was screened outdoors only if in a secluded area where there was no chance that someone from the general public would see or hear any portion of the movie that was being screened.

6. Since I’m not charging a fee, I am showing the movie inside of my church, and I have the CVLI license, I can advertise my event in any fashion that I want.
In case you missed reading point 4 of the CVLI terms, “No specific titles, or any characters from such titles, or producers’ names will be advertised or publicized to the general public unless authorized by certain producers.”

Much more info on this topic can be found at:

• http://www.cvli.com/about/terms.cfm
• http://www.copyright.gov
• http://www.mplc.org/faq.php

So what should you do!?

• Make sure that your church has a current CVLI license.
• Only show movies at a youth ministry event within your church or at a camp location that has its own license since the license is restricted to a physical location.
• Invite a few students over to your house, where you show a movie inside, with out any advertising of any sort through your church.

It is possible to still do a movie event for the public, you’ll need to procure a license from mplc.org but make sure you follow their guidelines.

I hope this helps clear up some of the movie copyright confusion. Of course, there are a ton of other areas that I could have addressed, but I’m not a copyright lawyer, I’m a youth pastor. So, I am not giving you any legal advice on this matter, just a few tips and pointers. If you have questions about your situation it would be best to chat with your church’s attorney or speak directly with an attorney who specializes in copyright law since this is a very in depth area of law (which you noticed if you checked out copyright.gov).

Simple Student Ministry by Eric Geiger & Jeff Borton has come just in time for many of us!  Although the majority of the info in this book is basic, youth ministry 101 type stuff, it is a reminder that is much needed, at least among many of the youth workers that I interact with.  The basics of a simple student ministry are having clarity, movement, alignment, and focus in the discipleship process.  

The authors move us through

• defining what a simple student ministry is
• achieving clarity in your ministry
• creating movement through the ministry
• ensuring alignment of your programs
• focus on your process

The book also includes a number of real life examples of simple student ministries from a number of settings, including large churches, parachurch ministries, and small churches. 

Do yourself a favor, don’t jump to conclusions about the basic nature of this book and be honest with yourself, is your student ministry really simple?  If it’s not, you need to pick up a few copies of this book and work through it with a few key members of your team.  I already have two extra copies that I’m giving to my jr high directors so we can work through it!

friends-
i haven’t sent many personal emails to this email list but we’re in a situation that has gotten a little out of control and it’s time to fill you in. as some of you may know, i’ve been working for months on my new record, ‘stockholm syndrome’, which i’ve recently finished and turned in to the record label. they’ve been very supportive over the years, but this time we didn’t get the response we expected. it seems i’ve finally found the line beyond which my label can support me, and apparently i’ve crossed it.

i consider this my most important record and am adamant about all of you hearing it. we had originally hoped to have ‘stockholm syndrome’ out this month (next week even), but at this point we’re not sure when the record will come out and in what form. the majority of the controversy is surrounding one song, which i consider to be among the most important songs on the record. so we’ve decided it’s an appropriate time to break the rules.

but because of various legal/publishing issues we’re having to be rather careful with how we do what we’re going to do next. that’s really all i can say for now and i’ve probably said too much.

we have a plan and we’re moving ahead, but we’re not sure what kind of trouble we might be getting into. we’ll let you know as soon as we know our next move-
derek 

That email created a stir amongst fans of Derek and a whole lot of speculation over what exactly could be so offensive to the publishing company.  Then I found this email in my inbox this morning from Derek:

friends-
this is turning into a bigger deal than we expected.  as a result, we’re having to temporarily _pull everything online down (can’t explain now).  and to be on the s_afe side, i’m going to pe_rsonally go offline while we sort this out.  i re_ally shouldn’t use my twitter account for now either so _don’t expect any updates there.

make no m_istake, our trouble with the label over content i_s very real, and not as simple as one word; we’re back_ed into a corner.  but we have applied all of our creative resources to th_is, working furiou_sly to create something that we believe not only subverts any leg_al issues but should also be a _pretty wild ride.

so this will be the l_ast email for a while.  we’ll t_ry to lea_k information via a new tw_itter account, @ssyndrome.  you’re o_n your own so start payin_g attention.  i’l_l see you _on the o_ther side-
derek

Is there some sort of code in there? Is Derek attempting to set this up like the publishing company is holding him “hostage?”  Remember what Stockholm Syndrome is all about after all.

Is this the begining of a Jesus Wants To Save Christians style game?  Could it be that he is simply engaged in a marketing scheme?

Anxiety vs. Love

Products ———-People

Control ————-Contemplation

Experts ————-Process

Results ————-Relationships

Conformity ————-Creativity

Answers ————-Questions

One of the ways that we will surely tell us if we are beginning to live a little too much out of the anxiety instead of love is when we begin to feel a deep discomfort with questions about what we are leading. Living out of anxiety drives us to grasp for control and one of the things that makes us feel a little more in control is having all the answers to all the questions.

After thinking about this for some time, I think that we can follow this anxiety back all the way back to who we believe ourselves to be.  It’s not really about any organization, ministry, or program that we are worried about.  We end up feeling a deep anxiety about who we are and who accepts us and doesn’t accept us and we strive to control how others perceive us by having or demanding all the right answers.  

Let’s try to live out of love this week, we know that, as followers of Jesus, we are children of God.  Embrace the questions the come up, let them be, and instead of worrying about the answers to these questions love the people who are asking them.