Re: Bible copyright
Posted by: rdo <rdo@...>
>The question came up on list about copyright law and the Bible. The Bible,
>in all translations, is out of copyright. Where there is a legal issue is
>with the commentary which accompanies most translations. This is the
>property of the author, editor and/or publisher.
This is true in the case of the King James (Authorized) Version. The KJV
was published originally under the "King's Copyright", which essentially
made it public domain.
*All* other English translations are copyrighted. Their copyrights cover
the actual text of the translation, along with the commentary. For
example, the copyright information in the front of the New Living
Translation reads:
"The Text of the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, may be quoted in any
form (written, visual, electronic, or audio) up to and inclusive of two
hundred and fifty (250) verses without express written permission of the
publisher, provided that the verses quoted do not account for more than
20 percent of the work in which they are quoted, and provided that a
complete book of the Bible is not quoted.
"When the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, is quoted, one of the
following credit lines must appear on the copyright page or title page of
the work:
"Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New
Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved."
[Two more options follow]
"When quotations from the NLT text are used in nonsalable media, such as
church bulletins, orders of service, newsletters, transparencies, or
similar media, a complete copyright notice is not required, but the
initials (NLT) must appear at the end of each quotation.
"Quotations in excess of two hundred and fifty (250) verses or 20 percent
of the work, or other permission requests, must be directed to and be
approved in writing by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., PO Box 80,
Wheaton, Illinois 60189.
"Publication of any commentary or other Bible reference work produced for
commercial sale that uses the New Living Translation requires written
permission for use of the NLT text."
Notice the phrase "two hundred and fifty (250) VERSES". "Verses"
specifically refers to the text of the translation, not the commentary.
Similar notices appear in the front of every other English translation,
other than the King James. It's true - they have copyrighted the actual
text of their translation. I believe that profit is the motive behind
many of the "new" translations.
--
Rik Osborne
<rdo@phase42.net>
<http://www.phase42.net>
"He was a great patriot, a humanitarian, a loyal friend; provided, of
course, he really is dead." --Voltaire