COMPLYING WITH
COPYRIGHT LAW
for the
Good News Reflections

[ En Español ]

Here is a simple explanation of copyright law and how to easily comply with it while sharing good materials with others as the Lord so leads you.

As Christians, we do not want to be law-breakers, nor do we want to deny credit where credit is due, nor do we want to deny just and fair wages to those who work hard to produce the fruits of the talents God has given them. Such behavior is thievery and is uncaring toward those who do the work. As Christians, we want to respect the copyright protection of any person's writings, music, or artistic drawings.

Holiness means obedience -- including obeying the laws of the land such as copyright law. Therefore, as Christians, we want to comply with copyright laws. Anyone who doesn't can be sued and deserves the legal punishment for the crime.

Copyright laws automatically cover anything that is written or drawn. Even email letters are covered by copyright law. Once something has been published, even if it has not been officially registered with the government's Copyright Office, it is covered by international law. Being written in any savable form, including the electronic media (webpages and email), is considered covered by the copyright law.

For more information on this, read:
- 10 Big Myths about copyright explained
- The Copyright Website
- Internet and Electronic Rights Issues
- What Is Copyright Protection?
 PERMISSION FOR DISTRIBUTING
THE GOOD NEWS REFLECTIONS
WRITTEN BY TERRY MODICA:

If you are seeking to make copies
for a church or other organization,
please go to Catholic Digital Resources
where it is professionally published.

Individual persons are granted copy permission according to the following parameters:

1. I the author of the Good News Reflections, Terry Modica, hereby GIVE YOU PERMISSION to copy my Good News Reflections only under the following conditions:

  • You may not use your own mailing list to distribute my work.
     
  • If you received it by email from me, you may occasionally forward it via email or print out a few copies to give to others.
     
  • You may not post it online UNLESS you use our Good News Widget or RSS feed box or by using one of the sharing options linked at the end of the RSS feed. And if you use one of these tools, please let us know so that we get an idea of how far and wide our reflections go.
     
  • Any online postings of my reflections which you receive by email is permitted once in a while on a personal blog (see paragraph 2 below), but ONLY IF you include the ENTIRE REFLECTION AS IS, complete with copyright information and links back to Good News Ministries.
     
    • The following text MUST be included with every posting:

      This Good News Reflection is © 2010 by Terry A. Modica of Good News Ministries: www.gnm.org. Reprinted by permission; this is not a Public Domain work. Sign up to receive the Good News Reflections by email: go to www.gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections.
       
  • You must not edit my work, you may not add to it, and you may not shorten it without first showing me your changes and obtaining specific permission from me for your adaptation.
     
  • You are required to notify everyone who sees what you share that they can subscribe themselves to receive the Good News Reflections. Include an active link to the sign-up page. For example:

To receive the daily Good News Reflections,
subscribe at gnm.org

2. You may not send my Good News Reflections to any mailing list. You may send one now and then to friends and family (people you know personally and who know you), when it pertains to something you know is going on in their lives, giving them opportunity to subscribe themselves to my Good News Reflections.

3. I am very glad — and feel awed that God has chosen me for this ministry — when my Good News Reflections are so meaningful to you that you want to share it with others. I see this as working together to do the Lord's ministry, and I'm happy to encourage it. This is precisely why I give everyone permission to share my writings with others as long as you comply with the requirements in the above paragraphs. Although I do enjoy hearing from you about how my ministry is reaching others through you, it is not necessary for you to specifically ask me for permission to share my Good News Reflections if you comply with the stated requirements.

4. Copies that you print out for yourself do not need any special permission. If you have a ministry of visiting the elderly, hospitalized, homebound or such, and you feel led by God to read aloud to them from my reflections, you do not have to mention my name nor Good News Ministries. The one copy you print out to read from is your own personal copy.

5. As a thank you for distribution permission, please make a donation of some sort, even if it's not financial, by joining our "Sharing the Good News Together" Program.

Any questions, please write to Terry Modica.