Given that the rights to the song are owned by whomever owns the Beatles' catalog, it seems that DOXOLOGY would have to receive permission from the owner to perform the song and pay royalties to the owner from their profits. This is done regardless of whatever new arrangement they come up with. So, does this band have any rights to their arrangement of a song they don't own? And how much does an arrangement have to be changed in order to be considered a new one? If David plays the acoustic guitar and the DOXOLOGY plays electric, is that a new arrangement? They're both playing the ~same~ chords and singing the same lyrics... that the Beatles wrote.
So... I know very little about copyright law and I'm just askin' because this seems to come up every year.
Your post raises some good questions! I was told by band members that bands changed songs so that they wouldn't have to get permission to play them.
I suspect the band Doxology is not gonna sue, cause their lawyers have told them that they have no case.