Common Worship copyright
Short answer: yes, for local use, without asking anyone — provided you meet five conditions the Church of England has published.
This is the question that stalls more parish booklet projects than any other, usually at a PCC meeting, usually phrased as “are we allowed to?” The answer is yes, and it has been yes for a long time. Common Worship is copyright © The Archbishops’ Council, but the Church of England explicitly permits local non-commercial reproduction in printed form without seeking separate permission.
The five conditions
The permission is conditional. All five apply together:
- The text must not be altered in any way. You may leave a section out, but you may not rewrite the words you do use.
- The copies must not be sold. Local use means the congregation, not a revenue stream.
- Your parish’s name must appear on the front cover — or the first page, if there is no cover. For a single-use service, the date must appear as well.
- No more than 500 copies may be made from the same original where it is reproduced for repeated use.
- The correct copyright acknowledgement must be included, in the wording set out in A Brief Guide to Liturgical Copyright.
Anything outside those conditions — altering the text, selling the booklet, printing beyond the limit — needs advance written permission from the Copyright and Contracts Administrator, The Archbishops’ Council, Church House, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3AZ.
The acknowledgement wording
The standard acknowledgement for Common Worship material is:
Material from Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England is copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2000.The wording specified for local reproductions
It belongs somewhere in the booklet where it can be read — conventionally the back page or the foot of the last page. It does not have to be prominent. It does have to be there.
The three conditions people forget
In practice, conditions 3 and 5 are the ones a hand-made Word document misses. A parish that has been photocopying the same booklet for six years often has neither its own name on the cover nor the acknowledgement anywhere — not out of bad faith, but because nobody told the person who made it in 2019.
What this permission does not cover
- Hymn words. Different rights holders entirely — see licences for hymn words.
- Bible text. The lectionary citations are free to print; the words of the passage belong to whoever publishes your translation.
- Psalters. The Common Worship psalter is covered; other pointings and paraphrases may not be. See printing the psalm.
- Anything sold. Including at cost, including for charity.
Questions
Can we photocopy Common Worship texts for our service booklet?
Yes. The Church of England permits local non-commercial reproduction of Common Worship texts in printed form without separate permission, provided the text is unaltered, the copies are not sold, your parish name appears on the front cover, no more than 500 copies are made from the same original, and the correct copyright acknowledgement is included.
What is the Common Worship copyright acknowledgement?
Material from Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England is copyright (c) The Archbishops' Council 2000.
Do we need to pay for a licence to print Common Worship?
Not for ordinary local parish use within the published conditions. Separate licences exist for wider or commercial use, and hymn words are covered by different licences entirely.
Can we sell our service booklets to cover printing costs?
No. The local-use permission requires that copies are not sold. Selling them needs advance written permission from the Archbishops' Council.