Los Angeles, CA- Vicki Mack-Lataillade, co-CEO of Lilly Mack Music Publishing, announces a mutual collaboration with Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) to oversee song copyright protection for gospel music writers worldwide. CCLI, formed in 1988, addresses the often byzantine problems churches unwittingly face when dealing with re-production of music—whether hand-written, copied or displayed on overhead projectors or videos—for congregational singing. For a yearly flat fee—depending on the size of the congregation, churches are free to reproduce copyrighted music strictly for congregational usage. The program proved so successful in protecting the rights of Christian and gospel music writers that it branched from a handful of churches in Portland, Oregon to well over 200,000 churches world-wide—and growing. Mack-Lataillade, through Lilly Mack Music Publishing, will oversee copyright outreach protection to faith-based urban congregations.

Vicki Mack Lataillade and husband Claude Lataillade are founders of Lilly Mack Music Publishing and Gospo-Centric Records, home to such gospel superstars as Kirk Franklin and Kurt Carr. Mack-Lataillade relates how the collaboration with CCLI came about: "We've been involved for quite a while with CCLI. Our new joint venture that we started in 2008 with EMI Music Publishing' Christian Music Group President Eddie DeGarmo prompted him to approach us about expanding into the urban community. He introduced me to Howard Rachinski (founder of CCLI). He talked with me about areas of CCLI that I was not aware of. Also, he spoke of a huge lawsuit in 1983 against a church that had copied songs without permission, which was a clear violation of copyright laws. Through that, he came up with the concept for CCLI. A lot of churches didn't realize that they needed a license for copying songs or lyrics. Churches didn't mind paying the licensing fee once they became aware of the need."

CCLI President/CEO Howard Rachinski said, "For 20 years now, our heart has been to serve the church. We wanted to make churches aware of the copyright issues involved with copying music to assist with congregational singing and offer a simple, cost-effective solution. We also wanted to provide an additional revenue stream for gospel songwriters and publishers, so the majority of the licensing fee is distributed in the form of royalties, based on the amount of copy activity for each song."

In addition, CCLI's SongSelect subscription service provides churches with lyrics, samples and transposable lead sheets, chord sheets and hymn/vocal sheets from thousands of the top CCLI songs. A separate license agreement, known as the Church Video License, provides churches with the permissions needed to show movie scenes for sermon or teaching illustrations. Please visit www.ccli.com for further service guidelines.

Mack-Lataillade plans on registering gospel writers who may not know of the licensing services offered through CCLI. She underscores the point: "Through CCLI, there are a lot of songwriters' families that are now living comfortably because of this undiscovered revenue, depending on the popularity of their songs. Churches need to be a part of CCLI. They can go to one place for transcribing and legal distribution of songs as well as licensing services.

In addition, Mack-Lataillade plans on structuring a weekly list of the top songs used by carefully selected churches and congregations. "We need to start understanding what the top songs are. So, writers and churches in our urban communities have got to get registered with CCLI in order to copy songs legally and support our writers as well. But on a larger scale, it will benefit our community as a whole. This is the ultimate win-win for both the church and the songwriter."

For more information and interview opportunities, please contact

A. Jalila Larsuel
JL Media Relations
(626) 398-5028
[email protected]