Gospel music stands as the oldest musical tradition in the Black community, originating from Negro spirituals and evolving over generations into the vibrant choral sound heard today.[1] Black composers such as Florence Price and Harry T. Burleigh drew from spirituals to create works that carried both cultural memory and classical form.[2] Their compositions, influenced by the creative energy of Harlem and Chicago, placed the language of the spiritual within the concert hall.[3] Still, the sacred traditions that shaped gospel and choral music remain vulnerable to appropriation and infringement. In April 2025, Indiana Bible College (“IBC”) uploaded a performance of John 1 to YouTube, where it reached over one million views.[4] The viral performance reignited a long-standing conversation over how Black musical innovation is borrowed, reworked, and stripped of its rightful credit.
The controversy centers on Dr. Rosephanye Powell who is a celebrated composer and professor of voice at Auburn University.[5] Dr. Powell wrote the famous 1996 composition The Word Was God which has become a cornerstone of contemporary choral music.[6] Dr. Powell alleges that Indiana Bible College copied and performed her composition without authorization.[7]In January 2024, IBS contacted Dr. Powell’s publisher, Gentry Publications, seeking permission to create a gospel arrangement of The Word Was God.[8] Both Dr. Powell and Gentry denied the request; nevertheless, IBC subsequently recorded and performed a new composition titled John 1. [9] Dr. Powell and Gentry argue that John 1 is a slightly altered derivative of her original work.[10]
After IBC’s unauthorized release of John 1 gained traction online, Gentry Publications issued a cease-and-desist letter alleging copyright infringement, and YouTube removed the video shortly after.[11] Dr. Powell took to Facebook, stating, “This song is undeniably a derivative of my work.”[12] She also accused IBC of making only minor alterations to the notes, rests, and rhythms of the composition to conceal its similarities.[13] The dispute escalated further in early June 2025 when IBC filed a defamation lawsuit against Dr. Powell, Gentry Publications, and Fred Bock Music Companies in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.[14] The Complaint alleged that Dr. Powell’s public statements were false and damaging to the IBC’s reputation and sought both damages and a judicial declaration that John 1 did not infringe on The Word Was God.[15]
Legally, the question at the heart of this dispute is whether John 1 constitutes a derivative work under the Copyright Act. While the text of John 1:1–3 is in the public domain, Dr. Powell’s original harmonies, rhythms, and melodic structure are protected. U.S. copyright law allows artists to record “covers” of existing songs through a compulsory license, but any adaptation that changes a song’s arrangement, structure, or style requires explicit permission.[16] Dr. Powell argues that IBC’s composition borrowed enough of her musical expression to qualify as a derivative work. By contrast, IBC maintains that John 1 is independently created and shares only the same biblical source material. The outcome of this case may turn on whether the court finds that IBC copied the protected expressive elements of Dr. Powell’s composition or merely drew from the same biblical text.
Beyond the courtroom, Dr. Powell’s public response spoke to a deeper truth about race, ownership, and artistry. “The disregard for me and my work is both unprofessional and deeply troubling,” she wrote, “and 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.”[17] Her statements resonated across the choral community. Musicians, educators, and organizations—including J.W. Pepper, the world’s largest sheet-music retailer—publicly voiced their support.[18] Many viewed the controversy as part of a broader pattern in which Black composers’ contributions are recognized only after their creations have been claimed by others.
The dispute over John 1 underscores a recurring inequity within American music law and culture. Throughout history, Black artists have had their innovations absorbed into mainstream markets with little recognition or remuneration. In 1939, South African composer Solomon Linda wrote Mbube, a Zulu folk song that was later adapted by white American artists into The Lion Sleeps Tonight.[19] Despite the song’s immense commercial success, including an estimated $15 million in royalties from its use in The Lion King alone, Linda received no compensation and died in poverty, illustrating the systemic exploitation of Black musical labor within the music industry.[20] This exploitation spans generations, seen in early Black blues and jazz musicians whose songs were re-recorded by white performers and continuing with contemporary Black musicians whose innovations are rebranded for mainstream consumption.[21] As intellectual historian and Columbia University professor Ann Douglas once observed, “American entertainment has always been integrated, if only by theft and parody.”[22]
This controversy serves as a reminder that copyright law is not merely a matter but of principal. It often determines whose creativity is protected, whose stories are remembered, and whose contributions are written out of history. As Pastor Courtney Lloyd Grear stated, “The notion that Dr. Powell should feel grateful that this institution somehow ‘popularized’ her work is not just patronizing but it highlights roots in a long history of Black artists being denied credit, agency, and compensation, while others profit from their creativity.”[23] For Dr. Powell and the many artists who came before her, the fight over The Word Was God reflects an ongoing struggle for justice, recognition, and restoration of artistic integrity long denied to Black creators. Dr. Powell’s story affirms that honoring faith through music also requires honoring the people whose artistry built its foundation.
[1] Portia K. Maultsby, Sacred Rural Gospel, Carnegie Hall: Timeline of African American Music https://timeline.carnegiehall.org/ [https://perma.cc/JPJ4-9FCC].
[2] Jim Beaugez, How Black Composers Shaped the Sound of American Classical Music, Smithsonian Magazine (Feb. 5, 2021), https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/black-classical-music-composers-180976924/.
[3] Id.
[4] See Apostolic Music Channel, John 1 | Indiana Bible College (Live) (YouTube, May 26, 2025) https://youtu.be/ [https://perma.cc/3GF5-EBHG].
[5] Rosephanye Powell, Auburn Liberal Arts, https://cla.auburn.edu/ [https://perma.cc/M7V4-NE84].
[6] Rosephanye Powell, The Word Was God – All Products – Rosephanye Powell, https://www.rosephanye.com/ [https://perma.cc/3Q4C-MS8D].
[7] Video posted by Rosephanye Powell (@Rosephanye Powell), Facebook (May 23, 2025) https://www.facebook.com/rosephanye/videos/476580008845204.
[8]Image posted by Rosephanye Powell (@Rosephanye Powell), Facebook (June 2, 2025) https://www.facebook.com/rosephanye/posts/pfbid0zAD9r3yaLfRQsbDpkbM8sXZKY5HNuzhzcZLUEMDVnTz6NcSwyrkgTY1JV7AKeFjal.
[9] Id.
[10] Id.
[11] Cheryl V. Jackson, ‘No credit or consent.’ Composer says Indiana Bible College stole her song for streaming, Indianapolis Star (May 30, 2025, 3:22 p.m. ET) https://www.indystar.com/ [https://perma.cc/P7ZY-BSNA].
[12] Powell, supra note 6.
[13] Id.
[14] Complaint, Indiana Bible College v. Fred Bock Music Company, No. 25-cv-01070-MPB-MJD (S.D. Ind. 2025).
[15] Id. at 2-6.
[16] 17 U.S.C. § 115(a)(2).
[17] Powell, supra note 6.
[18] J.W. Pepper (@J.W. Pepper), Facebook (May 28, 2025), https://www.facebook.com/jwpepper/posts/we-stand-with-rosephanye-powell-as-a-champion-of-original-music-we-support-the-a/1133517792144367/.
[19] Rian Malan, In The Jungle: Inside The Long, Hidden Genealogy Of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, Rolling Stone (May 14, 2000), https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/in-the-jungle-inside-the-long-hidden-genealogy-of-the-lion-sleeps-tonight-108274/.
[20] Id.
[21]Wesley Morris, For centuries, black music, forged in bondage, has been the sound of complete artistic freedom. No wonder everybody is always stealing it, New York Times Magazine (Aug. 14, 2019), https://www.nytimes.com/ [https://perma.cc/GNJ7-5UVF].
[22] Id.
[23] Courtney Lloyd Grear, Dr. Rosephanye Powell + Indiana Bible College Copyright Claim (YouTube, May 29, 2025) https://youtu.be/ [https://perma.cc/88LR-G43K].
