By now you've probably poked around the Hymnary enough to know that it is a powerful tool for researching and enjoying hymns. "Is there anything," you ask, "that the Hymnary doesn't do?" Well, here's one: the Hymnary doesn't grant licensing permission.

As any conscientious worship leader knows, it's illegal to print, project or record copyrighted songs without permission of the author or publisher. While the Hymnary is the best place to find out who a song's author or publisher is, we can't grant permission. But there are three licensing organizations that can. Most evangelical hymns and praise songs are covered by http://www.ccli.com/, denominational and liturgical music is covered by either the OCP affiliated http://www.licensingonline.org/ or the GIA affiliated http://www.onelicense.net/. If you're recording a CD, contact http://www.harryfox.com/ or if you have more complex questions contact http://churchca.com/. Of course, you can always contact the author or composer directly.