Wanting to add a hymn?

[SnoSkiDrew]

I am in the process of adding a hymn in my demo I am cureently working on. Since I plan on selling the demo at shows, however, I have a feq questions regarding what to do:

1) What is the policy on picking hymns right out of the book to use? Do I have to find one that is in the public domain? Am I allowed to use a hymn from the book that isn't in the public domain?

2) I have heard that one way to make your own arrangement of a song is to simply capo it up (or down) from it's standard version. This way, it isn't in the same key. Is this entirely correct/legal?

For example, I wanted to record "It Is Well With My Soul" which is "copyright - the public domain," would placing a capo on the 2nd fret make it my own arrangement, and thus, legal to sell as my own?

What if I did the same this to "How Great Thou Art" which was copyright in 1941, 1981 by Stuart Hine Manna Music? Would simply capoing the song on the 2nd fret make it legal?

I am very confused.. thanks!

Andrew

[eiko]

I just recorded a CD which contained two hymns. One was public domain and the other was not. If the song is public domain, you don't have to pay for the license. Changing the key of a song is not really "arranging". It's just another key. If the song is not public domain, you have to pay for the license, capo or not. It's only fair to pay the songwriter, most especially if you will be selling the CD. Even if you arranged the song a different way, you still need a license since you didn't write the song. You can take credit for the new arrangement on your CD insert. One song I recorded was "'Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus". It was an arrangement a good friend of mine did. I didn't pay him, I got a license for the song. It's not that expensive and you might as well do it legally. Shoot me a private email if you have other questions. I'll answer them as best I can. Good luck.