What is P.D.?

Public Domain (P.D.) means that the material has fallen out of copyright due to expiration of dates or other factors. You do not have to ask for permission to use this material.

• All compositions that are not protected under copyright law are said to be in the public domain.
• To help you identify songs that are in the public domain, Faith Alive Christian Resources has put the letters P.D. in the credit line. Please note that some hymns may have a public domain tune and a copyrighted text (or vice versa).
• If words and music are in the public domain you CAN reproduce, project, translate, record, and make derivative works without any formal requests or permissions. Caution: If just the words are in the public domain but the music is copyrighted, you are obligated to obtain permission for the music (the copyrighted material). Or, if the music is P.D. and the words are copyrighted, you are obligated to obtain permission for the words (the copyrighted material).
• For Copyright Term and Public Domain in the United States, go to http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm

Questions? Contact us at hymnal@crcna.org.