Fifty years ago, the music used at a funeral home service and at memorial services was limited to the available talents of an organist or pianist or a vocalist. More elaborate funeral services might use larger musical groups such as string quartets or even small woodwind or brass ensembles. Rarely did funeral directors think about whether they were following the strict regulations of copyright infringement law, because typically the music was being played by actual human beings instead of on a recording. And more often than not, the funeral music selected was religious or spiritual in nature rather than secular.