Are Bibles Copyrighted?

How could they be?

Copyrights only last - I believe - 20 years, the authors are quite a bit older than that... not to mention, copyright law is very new to the world.

Do you not think that if it was possible to copyright the material, whichever Church held the copyright would sue the other 33,000+ sects to reinstate unity?
 
Publishers hold copyrights on translations for as long as they can, and they market their translations. It helps pay for translation work, publishing costs plus a little extra. Often they will donate Bibles to worthy causes, but they do not want other publishers printing their copyrighted translations. With modern translations like NIV you have to look inside the cover for copyright notices. Usually they limit the percentage of scripture that derivative works may use.
 
Dream said:
Publishers hold copyrights on translations for as long as they can, and they market their translations. It helps pay for translation work, publishing costs plus a little extra. Often they will donate Bibles to worthy causes, but they do not want other publishers printing their copyrighted translations. With modern translations like NIV you have to look inside the cover for copyright notices. Usually they limit the percentage of scripture that derivative works may use.
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Umm, wouldn't the translation itself be a derivative work, though?

They can copyright the materials they have provided themselves, but how is it possible to copyright materials they have not originated? This seems a strange application of copyright laws if you ask me.
 
Lunitik said:
Umm, wouldn't the translation itself be a derivative work, though?

They can copyright the materials they have provided themselves, but how is it possible to copyright materials they have not originated? This seems a strange application of copyright laws if you ask me.
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The translation itself is an "original" in that there are different ways to translate a text from another language.

Minor differences in translation can affect what ideology you follow. Two translations are considered "original" if they contain differences that persist throughtout the entire bible.

I have no idea if they have patents for translation methods, but they should. Did I incorrectly apply the word "patent" here? Can you have a patent for literary works, claiming that you translated a text a particular way?
 
i think the King James is out of copyright or something like that.


so you can use its text without paying anyone.
 
NiceCupOfTea said:
i think the King James is out of copyright or something like that.


so you can use its text without paying anyone.
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Yes, hence the reason for the (new) NKJV and then you've got the ARSV, and RSV and ASV, NIV, Message, Teen Study, African Study Bible...and on and on....
 
Saltmeister said:
The translation itself is an "original" in that there are different ways to translate a text from another language.

Minor differences in translation can affect what ideology you follow. Two translations are considered "original" if they contain differences that persist throughtout the entire bible.

I have no idea if they have patents for translation methods, but they should. Did I incorrectly apply the word "patent" here? Can you have a patent for literary works, claiming that you translated a text a particular way?
Click to expand...

Thank you, this seems quite broken to me though.

I must stand corrected even though I do not believe this should be possible.

(the copyright application, not my being wrong)
 
I am torn over it, but all copyrights and patents have expiration dates. Since we have the KJV and others unpatented and since Bibles are so plentiful it doesn't seem to affect our lives much, except that some of the Bible software will only have certain versions of the Bible in them.
 
World English Bible @ eBible.org

is a Public Domain (no copyright) Modern English translation of the Holy Bible. That means that you may freely copy it in any form, including electronic and print formats. The World English Bible is based on the American Standard Version of the Holy Bible first published in 1901, the Biblia Hebraica Stutgartensa Old Testament, and the Greek Majority Text New Testament. It is in draft form, and currently being edited for accuracy and readability. The New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs are close to how they will read when they are finished, but most of the Old Testament still contains some archaic grammar that will be revised. For more information, please see the World English Bible
 
Other Public Domain translations I could find include the American Standard Version, DARBY, Douay-Rheims 1899, and Young's Literal Translation
 
as our languages changes we get updates and new translations of the Bible to reflect this.
 
my favorite line of one of my study bibles is:

copyright 1974.


it always strikes me in a peculiar manner.

metta,

~v
 
dr beck's conservative lutheran translation has a very limited copy write
meaning you cant change any thing to your Liking ..
you leave the translation alone..

Luthers german version also is not copy writted mennoites sects such as the stricter sects of the Amish also use it ..
 
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