On this page, we will endeavor to provide you with answers to the most commonly received questions. If, after reading through all of the questions, you still require further assistance, please contact Hillsong Publishing by email at publishing@hillsong.com or call +61 2 8853 5341.

NB: If you are outside Australia and New Zealand, please refer to our Worldwide Representatives page to see if the country you are in has a local representative. If there is a representative for your region, please contact them directly for assistance. If there is not a representative for your region, please contact Hillsong Publishing by email at publishing@hillsong.com or call +61 2 8853 5341.

1. CAN WE USE HILLSONG RESOURCE IN OUR SERVICES?

All Hillsong resource is created with the express purpose of enhancing worship. Therefore, as long as you are not reproducing or broadcasting the resource or charging admission, you can use any Hillsong resource before, during and after your worship service. This includes all CD's, Split Tracks, and DVDs.

2. IS IT OK TO DISPLAY LYRICS ON OUR OVERHEAD OR PUT LYRICS IN OUR BULLETIN? CAN I PHOTOCOPY SHEET MUSIC TO GIVE TO MY WORSHIP TEAM FOR REHEARSALS?

The best and easiest way to be covered for print reproduction of lyrics and music is to take out a CCLI licence. Please refer to the CCLI Website for further information.

3. CAN WE USE HILLSONG SONGS ON OUR CD, DVD, OR VIDEO PRESENTATION?

To use Hillsong songs on your recorded project, you will need to fill out a Licence Application Form and email it to copyright@hillsong.com.

4. CAN WE USE A HILLSONG MASTER SOUND RECORDING ON OUR PROMOTIONAL VIDEO?

We have a policy of not licensing our sound recordings to ministries that we are not directly involved in. This is due to the fact in the past, people have misread and implied our involvement or support of a ministry or organisation simply due to the fact that our music was being used in promotional material.

As an alternative, your organisation could arrange a "cover"recording of the same song and use those recordings. This is an alternative for which the licensing of the songs alone without a master licence would be easy and not expensive.

5. CAN I POST ONE OF YOUR VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE / GODTUBE? CAN I DO MY OWN COVER OR SLIDESHOW OVER ONE OF YOUR TRACKS AND POST THAT TO YOUTUBE / GODTUBE?

Whilst we appreciate your support of our music and videos, you are not allowed to do this because it is a breach of copyright. International copyright law clearly states that the user must have the permission of the copyright holder to make videos and sound recordings available on the internet, and as a policy, we only grant that permission to our own official web sites.

6. IF I SUBMIT A LICENCE APPLICATION FORM, AM I GUARANTEED TO RECEIVE A LICENCE?

No, the lodging of an application does not guarantee acceptance. We kindly advise you it is an application only and it does not constitute a licence, authority to record or duplicate Hillsong music, nor any legally binding relationship between Hillsong Publishing and your organisation.

Once we have received your application and it is approved, it will take approximately one week for you to receive your licence or quote via email. We will notify you at once if your application is declined for any reason, or if we need more information from you.

7. HOW MUCH DO LICENCES COST?

Licence costs vary depending upon where you are located in the world, and upon what you are using the music for. Please refer to our Licence Types page for further information.

8. HOW DOES THE LICENSING PROCESS WORK?

Once you have submitted your application form to Hillsong Publishing, it will take up to one week before you will receive a response. You will be notified if we need further information or if your application is declined for any reason. If approved, we will send a quotation to you for your approval.

Once we receive your approval to proceed, PDF copies of the licence and invoice will be emailed to you. We then ask you to print out two copies of each licence, sign and date all of the copies, and post them, along with payment in full in Australian dollars to our offices (Further details about methods of payment will be provided on the invoice).

Once we receive the signed licences and payment in full, the licences will be countersigned.  A receipt of payment and a counter signed and fully executed licence will then be posted to you for your records.

NB: Please do not leave the obtaining of necessary licences until the end of your project. We prefer to be involved in this aspect early in your project to avoid causing any delays in your production schedule.

9. I WOULD LIKE TO RECORD YOUR SONG, BUT I WANT TO CHANGE SOME OF THE LYRICS (E.G. CHANGING "THE DARLING OF HEAVEN CRUCIFIED" TO "THE KING OF HEAVEN CRUCIFIED"). IS THIS OKAY?

As a policy, Hillsong Publishing does not allow licence holders to modify the original lyrics of the songs. Please contact Hillsong Publishing by email at publishing@hillsong.com or call +61 2 8853 5341 for further information.

10. DO YOU HAVE OFFICIAL TRANSLATIONS AVAILABLE FOR YOUR SONGS?

Hillsong Music now has a great range of many of your favourite songs available in authorised translations for a wide selection of different languages, which are available at no charge. Please refer to the Hillsong Music Australia Translations page for further information.

11. I HAVE WRITTEN A TRANSLATION OF ONE OF THE HILLSONG SONGS FOR WORSHIP IN CHURCH. I AM AWARE THAT AN OFFICIAL TRANSLATION IS AVAILABLE, BUT OUR CONGREGATION DOESN'T LIKE IT. MAY I USE MY OWN TRANSLATION IF IT IS FOR CHURCH WORSHIP ONLY?

We are aware of the vast number of different languages, dialects and provinces which not only affect language and communication, but also the way in which songs are sung. Therefore, if your desire is to change one or two words in our translations to better suit your congregation, then that is allowed. However, if you wish to change a significant portion of the song, please contact us so that we may help and direct you with this. Please note, however, that we will not allow you to change lyrical meaning or the song's melody.

12. I WANT TO RECORD ONE OF YOUR SONGS ON MY ALBUM IN MY NATIVE LANGUAGE BUT I DON'T LIKE THE OFFICIAL TRANSLATION OF THE SONG. CAN I USE MY OWN TRANSLATION?

We have a dedicated team of translators who do their best to translate the songs as closely to the original as possible, without taking away from the songs meaning and the song structure. We understand that in some cases our translation may not suit your dialect or native tongue to your liking, therefore we are open to receiving your translated versions of our songs for re-recording and church worship purposes.

As a general policy, we like to look over all translations that people want to use. This is so that the song and its meaning are not being altered too far from the original intention of the songwriter/s. Here at Hillsong Publishing we aim to spread worship throughout the greater church, whilst maintaining a standard of worship and protecting our writer's copyright.

If you want to record with your own translation, we ask that you send us your proposed translation in the "transliteration" format. This is basically a translation of what you have written, followed by a literal English translation of what you have translated above. Please submit all translations in a word or excel document with the following 3 columns for each line of the lyrics;

1. Original English lyrics / 2. Your translation / 3. Transliteration - literal meaning.

13. THE OFFICIAL TRANSLATION FOR A SONG IN MY LANGUAGE IS NOT ON THE HMA WEBSITE. CAN I SUBMIT MY TRANSLATION TO YOU TO BE USED AS AN OFFICIAL TRANSLATION?

Although we cannot use all translations submitted to us, we are willing to look at translations that we do not currently have available. As there are many wonderful languages worldwide and we do not have all language translators available, we are open to receiving your translations. Once we have received your translation, it will be reviewed. If your translation is suitable, we will use it as our official translation for others to use worldwide.

14. I HAVE FOUND YOUR ALBUMS AND VIDEOS ON A FILE SHARING WEB SITE / BIT TORRENT SITE. IS IT OK FOR ME TO DOWNLOAD YOUR ALBUM OR VIDEO FROM THERE?

Whilst we appreciate your support of our music and videos, these sites do not have our permission to make these files available as downloads. Downloading from these sites, therefore, is a breach of copyright and illegal. We neither approve of nor condone these sites or anyone downloading our music or videos from them.

15. WILL HILLSONG PUBLISHING PUBLISH MY BOOK OR MY MUSIC?

Hillsong Publishing is a department of Hillsong Church, not a publishing company or record label. The songs we publish and record come out of the life of our church. We have more songs than we have recording projects, so in order to best serve our writers and the calling on this church to resource the body of Christ with songs of praise and worship, we have chosen not to accept material from outside of this ministry.

There are many great Praise and Worship record labels and publishers around the world. All of these companies are easily found on the web through any of the numerous search engines, and all should have an A&R or Submissions address listed in their contacts. Otherwise, you could email the main contact address on their website and enquire about their submission policy.

16. I WOULD LIKE TO START A PUBLISHING COMPANY IN MY CHURCH. DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR ME?

We have prepared a document that gives you some basic information that you will need to think about when starting your own publishing company available for download here. Please note that this document offers advice only and should not be construed as legal advice. We recommend seeking professional legal advice before creating any business entity.