Wondering how to rewrite a hymn legally? You can write a new melody for an old hymn if its words are in the public domain. In the United States, as of 2026, works first published in 1930 or earlier are in the public domain. That covers many classic hymn texts, but later translations, added verses and modern arrangements may still be copyrighted.
This guide is part of our step-by-step guide on how to write a worship song. Learning how to rewrite a hymn is one of the best ways to practise worship songwriting, because the lyrics are already strong. If you’d rather start from scripture, see our guide to writing songs from the Psalms. For hymns your guitarists can play straight away, see our hymns on guitar chord guide.
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Send My Cheat Sheet →Many churches love the depth of old hymn texts but find their tunes or language hard to sing today. “Retuning” a hymn means writing a new melody for its original words, sometimes with a new chorus or small language updates. This post shows how to rewrite a hymn: how public domain status works, how to check a hymn carefully, and how to write a new tune step by step. It isn’t legal advice: if you plan to publish or record commercially, confirm the status of each hymn and consider asking a copyright professional.
Which Hymns Are Public Domain?
In the U.S., copyright for works published before 1978 lasts up to 95 years from publication (if properly maintained), according to the U.S. Copyright Office and library guides such as Cornell University’s public domain chart. Each January 1, another year of works enters the public domain. On January 1, 2026, works published in 1930 became public domain in the U.S., so anything published in 1930 or earlier is now free to use there.
Three cautions matter for hymns:
- Text and tune are separate. A hymn’s words and music can have different dates and different copyright status.
- Translations and versions are separate works. An old hymn can have a newer English translation that is still copyrighted.
- Arrangements and additions are separate. A modern arrangement, added chorus or new verse is a new work, even if the original hymn is public domain.
Rules also differ by country. Many countries use “life of the author plus 70 years,” so a hymn that is public domain in the U.S. may still be protected elsewhere.
Public Domain Hymns: Examples With Dates
The table lists widely sung hymns with their commonly cited text and tune dates. Dates were checked against Hymnary.org, which lists Blessed Assurance and It Is Well with My Soul as public domain. Always check the specific version you use.
| Hymn | Text (author, date) | Tune (composer, date) | U.S. status (2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazing Grace | John Newton, 1779 | NEW BRITAIN, American folk melody, 1829 | Public domain (original verses) |
| Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing | Robert Robinson, 1758 | NETTLETON, 1813 | Public domain |
| Holy, Holy, Holy | Reginald Heber, 1823 | NICAEA, John B. Dykes, 1861 | Public domain |
| When I Survey the Wondrous Cross | Isaac Watts, 1707 | HAMBURG, Lowell Mason, 1824 | Public domain |
| Rock of Ages | Augustus Toplady, 1776 | TOPLADY, Thomas Hastings, 1830 | Public domain |
| A Mighty Fortress Is Our God | Martin Luther, c. 1529; tr. F. H. Hedge, 1852 | EIN FESTE BURG, Luther, 1529 | Public domain (Hedge translation) |
| Blessed Assurance | Fanny Crosby, 1873 | ASSURANCE, Phoebe Knapp, 1873 | Public domain |
| It Is Well with My Soul | Horatio Spafford, 1873 | VILLE DU HAVRE, Philip Bliss, 1876 | Public domain |
| What a Friend We Have in Jesus | Joseph Scriven, 1855 | CONVERSE, Charles Converse, 1868 | Public domain |
| Be Thou My Vision | Old Irish (8th century); tr. Mary Byrne, 1905; versified Eleanor Hull, 1912 | SLANE, traditional Irish melody | Public domain (Byrne/Hull version) |
| Great Is Thy Faithfulness | Thomas Chisholm, 1923 | FAITHFULNESS, William Runyan, 1923 | Public domain in U.S. since 2019; may be protected in life+70 countries |
| How Great Thou Art (English) | Swedish original by Carl Boberg; English by Stuart K. Hine, 1949 | Swedish folk melody, arr. Hine | Not public domain (Hine’s English version is copyrighted) |
Notice the last two rows. “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” shows how status can differ by country, and “How Great Thou Art” shows that a hymn with 19th-century roots can still be under copyright because the familiar English version came later.
How to Check if a Hymn Is Public Domain
- Find the hymn on Hymnary.org and note the text author, translator and first publication date.
- Note the tune name, composer and date separately.
- Check whether the version you know has newer verses, a translation or a refrain added later.
- Compare the dates with the current public domain cutoff (in the U.S., published in 1930 or earlier as of 2026).
- Look at the copyright line in a recent hymnal or on CCLI SongSelect; modern arrangements usually show a copyright notice.
- If anything is unclear, treat it as copyrighted and ask the publisher or a copyright professional.