I really believe in the earlier years that churches weren't aware of the legalities involved and some innocently did the copying.
However, I hope Horace is right because I have some gospel music that has been recorded and get paid sometimes for sheet music called 'piano forte'(I don't know what that means). None of my songs that I know of have made the church hymnals, but they have been printed in some books...
I just have to tell you almost EVERYTHING about music, don't I, PeeDud?
"Piano" is simply a "shortened" form of the original Eye-tallion word "pianoforte" --- the name of the big black thingy with the rows of white thingies on top? You know what I mean?
NO! NO! NO! I am NOT talking about Ray Charles, you dummy! The big, black thing that HE made music on.
(Don'tcha reckon they're really paying you for piano sheet music? Seriously?)