One of the most exciting aspects of Lutheran Service Builder is the optional “blanket” hymn license that Concordia Publishing House provides. We call it LSBHymnLicense.net. It’s a comprehensive license that makes securing copyright permissions, placing appropriate copyright attributions, reporting usage of copyrighted materials, and making payments to copyright holders a simple, integrated, and seamless process.

LSBHymnLicense.net:

• Knows which hymns are copyrighted, by whom, and whether those copyrights apply to text or melody,
• Stores your licensing information electronically as part of your Lutheran Service Builder activation process, so you don’t have to remember any numbers or other information,
• Records your usage and export of copyrighted materials in the background, so you don’t have to worry about keeping detailed records on your own,
• Submits your usage statistics on copyrighted materials to Concordia Publishing House via the Internet or using an optional printed report, and
• Takes care of all your copyright fees for materials covered by the license for one low annual fee.

LSBHymnLicense.net is also completely optional. If your congregation never has need of a hymn printed outside of the pages of their Pew Editions, then you don’t need to get it. It is the easiest and most convenient option for reproducing copyrighted resources using the power and versatility of Lutheran Service Builder, and it can be added to your Builder installation at any time.

For more, click to keep reading. We’ll cover how the hymn license is added to your Lutheran Service Builder installation.

If you’ve read through the promotional materials previously released concerning Lutheran Service Builder, have called to order Builder, or have seen the page on the Lutheran Service Builder Web site, you’ve likely seen the pricing chart for LSBHymnLicense.net and seen a rundown of the features and conveniences it offers.

If you’ve purchased a subscription to LSBHymnLicense.net with your purchase of Lutheran Service Builder, you won’t receive anything additional when you receive your copy of Builder. Instead, Builder will take care of gathering the appropriate information for you when you install it and activate it.

Once the main installation process for Builder is complete, you will be presented with the Activation window. You have three choices here that apply to LSBHymnLicense.net, which is only offered with the Congregational Edition of Lutheran Service Builder.

The first option attempts to activate your copy of Builder automatically over your Internet connection. Builder makes a connection to CPH’s server, reports your Customer Number, and asks for your registration information. When our server responds, it sends your license numbers and expiration dates. Your subscription to LSBHymnLicense.net is handled on your behalf.

The second option will present you with a screen asking you to call Concordia Publishing House in order to obtain your unlock codes and license numbers over the phone. Your Customer Number is also presented in this window, to aid you in finding the correct information to give the technician. When you call the support number listed, you’ll report the Customer Number, and the support tech on the line will relay to you your registration information.

In either case, once you have entered the correct information or have contacted the activation server over the Internet, you will be presented with the terms of the hymn license agreement. In order to finalize your activation process, you must agree to these terms. Agreeing to these terms and completing the update process serves as your license agreement. No printed copy will be sent to you, and no signature is required.

The third option allows you to defer your activation until a later date. This is useful if your Internet connection is not always active. To activate Lutheran Service Builder later, select the Activate Lutheran Service Builder Now command in the Tools menu to begin the activation process.

That’s all there is to the activation process. When you complete this process, you don’t have to do anything else to start using Lutheran Service Builder and enjoying the convenience of LSBHymnLicense.net.

Watch for more tutorials in the future, where we’ll cover such things as how licensing works, what happens when you select a hymn, what’s covered and what’s not, and how to report your usage.