Copyright Laws - Music?

Question

My church will be having a benefits concert in about a month to raise awareness and money for five different issues:

1. Child Slavery in Haiti (money and awareness)

2. Hunger in Haiti (money and awareness)

3. Effects of the Economy on Families in America (awareness... this is something that'll be done to encourage people like my family, who are losing their homes and jobs)

4. Growing Teen Violence (awareness and money)

5. US Troops in Armed Conflict (awareness and money... we are not for or against the war... we want to let people know that no matter what we say, the troops our out there, they've been suffering out there and we should do what we can to help them. Almost everyone has a friend, brother, son or family member that is fighting out there... hopefully everyone can relate.)

The money/donations from the concert will be raised and sent to five organizations that will help the child slavery in Haiti, hunger in Haiti, troops and helping teens.

Now here's my question...

Answer 1

most music publishers do not charge royalty for free events. an event that collects money as a condition to hearing the music is not free. you need to get specific permission from the publisher to use the music and sell the subsequent videos. They may approve, but don't assume as some are greedy and find no problem taking money that people thought was going to charity. Also this gets into the realm of statutory damage, the publisher does not have to prove that use of the music caused commercial harm, there are stiff penalties for each unauthorized use. My recommendation is to use free music to draw a crowd, and then find unrelated methods to collect money, kind of like a carnival side-show.

Answer 2

as long as its not on tv you dont need permission