'No credit or consent.' Composer says Indiana Bible College stole her song for streaming

Indianapolis Star

2 days ago

An Indiana Bible school is under scrutiny after a composer took to social media to claim it infringed on her copyrighted work and is selling music based on her composition.
Choral music composer Rosephanye Powell said an Indiana Bible College choir copied, altered and performed her song without permission.
Powell, a professor at Auburn University in Alabama, said Indiana Bible College's 'John 1' uses elements of her 'The Word Was God.' She and her publisher, Glendale, California-based Gentry Publications, had denied usage to the Indiana college last year, according to Powell.
The a cappella song is based on the first chapter in the Bible's Gospel of John.
Powell is well-known in the choral community.
The American Choral Directors Association honored Powell with its 2025 Raymond Brock Memorial Commission, a prestigious award. Her new work premiered at the organization's national conference this spring.
'Rosephanye Powell is one of the most important female composers of choral music in the United States today – if not the most important,' said Stephen Bock, president of Fred Bock Music Co. Inc., which owns Gentry Publications.
'The Word Was God' was her first publication and is her most iconic work, Bock said.
Powell composed the song when she and her husband, William C. Powell, now music professor and director of choral activities at Auburn, were co-conductors for the collegiate choir at Philander Smith College, an HBCU in Arkansas. The choir there in 1996 was the first to perform it.
'There is no doubt that what Indiana Bible College has done is infringe on the copyright of 'The Word Was God,' Bock said.
'This song is undeniably a derivative of my work,' she said in a May 23 Facebook post, adding that the Indiana choir made minor alterations to notes, rests and rhythms to "The Word Was God."
The bible college choir had performed an unapproved arrangement of her song in early 2024, titled 'The Word Was God,' using a band and a soloist and uploaded it to TikTok, Powell said in a May 23 Facebook post.
Indiana Bible College initially contacted Gentry Publications in January 2024, seeking permission to produce a gospel arrangement of 'The Word Was God,' but recorded the song and released a video before getting the approval from Powell and the publisher, Bock said.
Gentry Publications rejected the request and directed the choir to destroy the music and remove the video, according to Bock.
Indiana Bible College choir director Tim Hall had told Powell that, as a high school choral director, he'd performed the song years before, and in April 2024, he again requested to use the music, this time for a performance at an international music festival at the school. Powell and Gentry said no.
'And then the next thing we knew, in April of 2025, they released 'John 1,' which we feel is completely derivative of 'The Word Was God,'' Bock said. The Indiana choir was using material from 'The Word Was God,' but presenting 'John 1' as an original composition, he said.
'What came out in April of this year, 'John 1,' we contend is a slight — and by slight, I mean slight — reworking of the gospel arrangement of 'The Word Was God' that they tried to get permission for in 2024,' Bock said. 'So legally, it is a derivative of a derivative.
'What makes this egregious is the historical record of their interest in 'The Word Was God,' going back to January of 2024, and their continued insistence that it's original work when it is obvious that it is not.'
Gentry learned of the 'John 1' song a couple of days after the school's April 26 upload of a music video for the song to YouTube, and contacted the college the April 30, alleging copyright infringement.
The publisher made the copyright claim against the 'John 1' video to YouTube in mid-May, and by the morning of May 20, the platform had removed the music video, Bock said. At that point, the video had about 940,000 views, he said.
Powell, who also has taught at Philander Smith and Georgia Southern University, said Indiana Bible College is profiting from the song through sales on its website and digital platforms. "John 1" debuted on Apple Music on May 2, 2025.
Since she began sharing her story on social media last week, the school has posted that it is attempting to determine the legalities.
IndyStar has reached out to Indiana Bible College for comment, but has not received a response.
Others are reading: Why authors of 'Back Home Again' were accused of stealing from another iconic Indiana song
Hall and other credited arrangers of the unlicensed 2024 arrangement are listed as composers of 'John 1' and claim 'The Word Was God' is not part of the new work, Powell said in the May 23 Facebook post.
Hall is also associate dean of worship studies at Indiana Bible College.
'The disregard for me and my work is both unprofessional and deeply troubling. As an African American composer, I am acutely aware of our nation's history of Black artists having their musical property taken without credit or consent. That history makes Mr. Hall's actions especially egregious, given his role in guiding young singers, arrangers, and musicians,' Powell said in the post.
'What is most disheartening is that I communicated my position to Mr. Hall very politely and respectfully a year ago, making it clear why I could not approve.'
In a May 26 social media post, Powell said she felt strongly the song should not be performed with a band or soloist, as the Indiana choir had done without permission in 2024.
She intended the a cappella piece to be restricted to human voices to convey God's speaking creation.
'I wanted people to get a picture of how God's word created the world,' Powell said. 'I was trying to spread not just the message, but give them a picture of what God's voice did as he spoke. One day there's trees, then there's the sun, there's the moon, there's the stars, then there's shrubbery, there's water. A picture of the Earth is being created through voices.'
While the Scripture is not copyrighted, the harmonies and rhythms used in 'The Word Was God' are, Powell said.
'That, for me, is about integrity,' she said in the video. ' It is not about the money. They're the ones making the money.'
'And what's worse is this time they're saying it's an original work, which means it uses none of my work whatsoever. But this is not true. Sections of this song are my work, so it's exactly as before,' she said. 'At least before they said they were using my work, they just didn't get a license for it and didn't inform me in advance or get permission. Now they say none of it is my work.'
Many in the music community are standing up for Powell.
'This is not homage. This is THEFT. It is a violation of copyright law and a blatant disrespect of a Black female composer's intellectual property. Historically, we have seen this happen often where black artists have repeatedly had their creative works stolen, imitated, or repackaged without credit or compensation,' said Antwoin Holman, a high school choral music director in Douglasville, Georgia, on Facebook. 'This pattern of exploitation must be called out and challenged and IBC we are holding your feet to the fire.'
Powell also has the support of J. W. Pepper, the world's largest sheet music retailer.
The 149-year-old company on May 28 posted to its Facebook page, 'We stand with Rosephanye Powell. As a champion of original music, we support the artists whose work we distribute,' the company posted on May 28. ' We applaud Dr. Powell's courage in speaking out to defend her intellectual property. Creative work is not only labor—it's legacy.'
Bock said Gentry had been trying to resolve the issue privately.
On May 23, the publisher emailed Indiana Bible College a 20-page letter detailing its case for 'John 1' being derivative of 'The Word Was God.'
Bock said the school responded on May 25, saying, 'We are in the process of evaluating the extensive analysis you shared of 'John 1' relative to 'The Word Was God, and will provide a full response as soon as it is practicable.'
Gentry has had nothing directly from the school since, Bock said.
'They're supposed to be getting a response to us. I don't know what it means for timing. As of right now, the ball is in their court.'
Indiana Bible College, founded in 1981 and currently located at 1502 E. Sumner Avenue, posted to its social media accounts that it working on clearing up the matter in private.
'The release of the choral arrangement 'John 1' has been met with claims of copyright infringement," it said. "Establishing whether copyright infringement has occurred is extraordinarily fact sensitive, and parties to copyright infringement disputes frequently genuinely disagree whether the legal standard for infringement has been met. We are actively discussing the matter privately with the only party that has a legal standing to dispute the matter.'