This site is free for your use, following the guidelines listed here. Although there are some “buttons” that link to Pearl Foundation areas (see below), no donation is required. In fact, Janis would prefer you spend your “gratitude money” by supporting the people who’ve contributed to this site (“Artists” or “Contributors”) – visit their websites, buy CDs and merchandise directly from them, attend their shows when possible, and contact them to say how much you enjoy their work. We love that many of you will discover new artists here; that’s a big part of our goal.

Sorry this is so long but there are legal issues involved. And you know how that goes…

1. You MAY:
   1. Download items from this site for personal use;
   2. Share these items with friends for their personal use;
   3. Download a version and use it to create your own dance video, collage, or other piece of art provided that you:
      1. give full attribution to the Artist(s) and song, which means you must display their names prominently, including the song creator (Janis Ian) and song title (Better Times Will Come);
      2. do not edit the original piece you’re working from in any way (for instance, by leaving out a verse or changing the lyrics or removing a section);
      3. do not disseminate that work for any sort of money-making endeavor or other medium of exchange;
      4. allow us to post it and use it as part of the Project, although we are under no obligation to do so.
   4. Post a version to your personal YouTube or Vimeo or other social media channels provided you follow the directions above for attribution and editing and monetization;
   5. Perform “Better Times Will Come” using your own arrangement or one of the free arrangements from this site, with friends, choruses, gathering groups of all sorts, students, school groups. If you post a video please send the URL to info@janisian.com so we can all enjoy it too!
2. You may NOT:
   1. Use anything on this site to create material in an attempt to make money or any other sort of financial gain or consideration for yourself, your companies, other companies, your friends, your family, or interlopers from Betelgeuse without the express written permission of both the owner (Janis Ian) and the person(s) whose work you wish to use;
   2. Use anything from this site for any sort of film or television release (“sync usage”) without express permission as detailed in (a) above;
   3. Create CDs, DVDs, or any other media in order to distribute any of these items to the public;
   4. Quote from lyrics or descriptions or any other text on this site in order to make clothing or other items for sale, or to use in print materials, whether physical or digital (including textbooks, self-published books, pamphlets, or any other materials);
   5. Sell, rent, lease, or otherwise use material from this site for anything other than personal use;
   6. Edit or otherwise alter lyrics used on this site, or add to the lyrics of the original song other than to repeat a line or chorus for stylistic reasons;
   7. Edit or otherwise alter music used on this site. Minor melodic changes as part of phrasing or style are permitted but must be reasonable and necessary;
   8. List yourself or claim rights to any of this material as “Composer” or “Lyricist” with any entity, including but not limited to copyright offices, social media, and performing rights societies. The only Composer/Lyricist permitted is Janis Ian, the composer and lyricist of “Better Times Will Come”.

Janis Ian owns the song “Better Times Will Come”, the original master recording using her voice, her name and likeness, her logo, and this actual site. For licensing inquiries regarding Janis Ian’s portion of anything, please contact info@janisian.com .

* Neither Janis Ian nor her website(s) are able to give you permission to use anything Janis Ian does not directly own. You must contact the Contributor(s) directly to obtain permission for any use other than mentioned here. We do not share contact information; please reach these artists through their websites, management, agents, or other representatives.

1. From Janis: I don’t like to think of art as a contest; I like to think of it as something we do to make ourselves feel better, to connect with one another, to get through hard times and celebrate the good times. The Project is open to anyone, whether it’s a bunch of 6-year-olds singing just the choruses while they clap out of time, to a retiree who likes to play along with the radio. The important thing is to enjoy the music, the dance, the painting, the art.  
2. Sorry, we are completely back-logged and cannot accept any new submissions at this time. We do encourage you to create your own version and post it to sites like Youtube.com. Remember – music is for everyone!

Janis Ian is paying for this; she covers all costs, from webmaster to domain and hosting fees. This has become a much bigger project than originally envisioned, but she still doesn’t feel right about asking for “outside money” to support it. When people kept trying to donate to the Project, she suggested they donate to The Pearl Foundation instead, an IRS-approved public charity founded by Janis and her wife Pat in 1999. It honors Janis’ mother, Pearl, who returned to college in her 40’s despite being hindered by Multiple Sclerosis. Decades later, Pearl graduated, earning her Bachelor’s Degree and then a Master in Playwriting. 100% of all donations go directly to the Foundation; Janis does not see who donates or how much they donate. An outside accounting firm is used to collect information required by the IRS; all services beyond that are donated or paid for by Janis and her wife. You can see the tax returns and read more by visiting The Pearl Foundation . As of January 2020 the Foundation had endowed more than one million dollars to help returning students finish their educations. Again, no donation is required and we prefer you use that money to support the Contributors here instead.

Absolutely not. Requests to advertise on this site, janisian.com, or other social media pages controlled by or owned by Janis Ian will be ignored.

Sorry, no. This site was not created for that purpose and we have no plans to ask Contributors to allow it. If a Contributor chooses to use their version on a CD or DVD, that’s up to them, though of course it must be with the permission of any other Contributor whose work is being used in that piece.

Although this site does not specifically target young children, it contains “coloring pages” suitable for their use and videos that may entertain them. We make every effort to be COPPA Compliant in order to protect children who may visit or contribute to this site. If you create a video that has children under the age of thirteen in it, whether yourself, family, friends, students, or strangers, they must not be identified other than by first name. Their location must also not be identified unless already publicly known (e.g. the PS 22 Chorus). If they are your students, you must have permission from their parents to use their children in a video for public viewing, and parents must be aware that the video will be posted to YouTube and Facebook and available to the general public. Violating these rules will result in your video or submission being immediately rejected. For more information about COPPA, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s COPPA FAQs.

Follow the links provided on their “page” and look for contact information. We cannot provide contact information for any artist here. Please do not ask, we will be forced to ignore your request. If you cannot find information via the links, we suggest doing an Internet search for “How do I contact so and so” or “How do I contact so and so’s management or booking agency”. For all Janis Ian contact information, visit  the Janis Ian website contact page.

Please see the lower right of every page for contact information, or use the information on this page.

What about it?
<smile>
Well, we won’t go into detail, but if you want to create a karaoke version with a bouncing ball and all that goes with it, you’re welcome to post it just like anything else!