A Statement from Evangelicals for America

In the lead up to the 2024 presidential election, Evangelicals for America PAC's "Evangelicals for Harris" campaign produced several ads using clips of Rev. Billy Graham. We did this believing that our use of the clips of Rev. Graham, although not done with the prior permission of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), would meet the criteria for Fair Use under the US Copyright Act. BGEA wrote to us, concerned that we were infringing its copyright in the video clips of Rev. Graham by using them for political purposes without authorization. Our intent was not to infringe on BGEA's copyright or to give the impression that Rev. Graham would have taken a side in publicly supporting one political candidate over another in an election, so we apologize to BGEA.

We have continued dialogue with BGEA since the election, and we affirm its position that Rev. Graham's purpose was always clear: telling people about God's Son, Jesus Christ, who alone came from heaven to earth to make a way for all mankind to be saved from our sins. He never politicized the Gospel of Jesus Christ or the works he created through BGEA. Rev. Graham aimed to win a hearing for the Gospel with all people, whether they were Americans who identified as Democrats, Republicans, or something else, or simply people from another country who had no context for American politics.

We also appreciate the spirit in which BGEA has approached this matter, inspired by Romans 12:18, and we affirm its intellectual property rights, including copyright in these videos, and its missional interest in protecting Rev. Graham's legacy. Accordingly, we have taken down and will not repost our ads that incorporated video clips of Rev. Billy Graham, and Evangelicals for America and its Directors have committed not to use content in electoral advocacy as to which BGEA claims copyright or other legal interests in the future without clear, written permission.

Our hope is that these actions and our commitment not to use Rev. Billy Graham within a partisan electoral context will clarify confusion over the message in our original ads; affirm the value and importance of Christian dialogue about the way we engage in politics, and prioritizes Christians remaining in communion despite differences.