I started listening to some of the messages from Mars Hills church out in Seattle. They have their messages in a downloadable MP3 format, so I can burn them to CD or listen to them while I'm running. So far, I listened to great messages on youth and leadership, drinking and one on habilitual sin.

One thing that always horked me off about Willow Creek and other churches was how they'd sell their messages online. I can understand covering the distribution costs, and I know all about intellectual property rights - but here's a very unique position that Mars Hill has as an Open License Agreement:


Thank God Jesus Didn?t Copyright the GospelWhy We License Our Audio the Way We Do
All the material found at MarsHillChurch.org has been licensed under the Electronic Frontier Foundation Open Audio License. We have chosen to bypass the traditional copyright and publishing structures because they are incompatible with the spirit of the music and other recorded material created within our community. Traditional copyright and publishing systems focus exclusively on seeking profit from all form of duplication and usage and consider any form of trading or sharing illicit. This model is outdated and incompatible with the current technology (mp3, peer-to-peer file sharing, CD duplication). On a basic level we must question what life songs of worship have when disconnected with the local church. More so, we must question the most prominent business models for music distribution (?Christian? or otherwise) ? models where usage is entirely dependant upon an exchange of currency (CCLI, ASCAP, BMI, etc.). The Open Audio License (OAL) basically states that you, the worldwide public, are authorized to use, copy, publicly perform, distribute and create derivative works from all materiel covered under the license -- provided you always credit the original author information. That includes: the symbol (O) for the EFF Open Audio License, the identity of the original author, the title of the work and how the first listed original author can be contacted. The OAL also states that any derivative work produced must also be released under the OAL. The license borrows language from the open source software initiative and the free software movement to create a community of sharing that benefits both the creators and the public while encouraging creativity through relational distribution. We believe that this is a much more current business model for music. It acknowledges that there is no way to control how people use our materiel. It also acknowledges our lack of interest in seeking that control. This is especially appropriate as it relates to songs of worship.