Copyright and the KJV

I have heard that the KJV does have a "permissable" copyright in Great Britain but not a "monetary" copyright. I am not aware of this truth, just adding to the conversation.

A good move would be for someone to contact the British government. They don't have much else going on now, I'm sure.

 

I thought this might be of interest, it is the wording in one of my King James Bibles. They sure went into detail.

License​

In terms of the Letters Patent granted by Her late Majesty Queen Victoria to Her Printers for Scotland, and of the Instructions issued by Her said Majesty in Council, dated Eleventh July Eighteen Hundred and Thirty-nine, I hereby License and Authorise William Collins Sons And Company Limited, One Hundred and FourtyFour Cathedral Street, Glasgow, to Print and Publish as by the Authority of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, an Edition of the Holy Bible in Iona Clear Type Octavo size, to consist of One Hundred Thousand copies as proposed in their Declaration dated the Twenty Seventh day of September Nineteen Hundred and Fifty Seven, the terms and conditions of the said Instructions being always and in all points fully complied with and observed by the said William Collins Sons And Company Limited.

Dated at London the thirtieth day of October
Nineteen Hundred and Fifty Seven
W. R. Milligan
Lord Advocate​

 

In fact, it's not a "copyright" at all. Copyrights expire after a certain period of time and are enforceable internationally. The KJV is not. It would be more appropriately classified as a "licensed work", in that printing of the KJV is licensed by the Crown to presumably Cambridge University Press, who can then 'sub-license' the work to be printed by others.

 

So do you have to obtain permission to copy the KJV in Great Britain? If so, is there $$$ involved?

 

According to my Oxford KJv (printed in NY BTW) you must obtain permission to copy or store any text contained in it.

 

If one wishesta use the copyright thingie for a 'superiority' argument, one needsta go to the Geneva Bible and the Bishop's Bible, which currently have no British copyright. While repro editions do have copyrights, they're for the extratextual material included in many of them.

 

The KJV is copyrighted and any one who says it is not is well educated.

 

Yes. It is perhaps because they are repeating what they heard or read from some KJV-only source. A number of KJV-only authors make such a claim.


Peter Ruckman wrote: "I believe the King James Bible is the Word of God because it has no copyright on it" (Why I Believe the KJV is the Word of God, p. 3). Ruckman also incorrectly claimed that the KJV "is the only bible in the world that anyone can reproduce, print, or copy without consulting anyone but God" (Bible Babel, p. 22). William Grady wrote: "The basic difference between the King James Bible and all modern facsimiles can be determined by the presence (or absence) of that little c meaning copyright" (Final Authority, p. 284). Pastor Bruce Cummons declared: "I believe the KJV is the Word of God because of its lack of copyright" (Foundation and Authority of the Word of God, p. 51). Jim Ellis asserted: “One of the most obvious arguments in favor of the King James Bible is that it is the only one that is not copyrighted” (Only Two Bibles, p. 17). Barry Burton claimed: "Is the King James copyrighted? No! Why? You cannot copyright God's Word" (Let's Weigh the Evidence, p. 79). Gail A. Riplinger also wrote: "The KJV is the only version not bound by a copyright" (New Age Bible Versions, p. 171). Pastor Randy Starr claimed: "The KJV has no publisher or copyright" (Why We Use only the KJB of the Bible, p. 18). Charles Turner wrote: "The King James Version is the only text of the Bible that has no copyright" (Why the KJV, p. 2). Evangelist William Bradley stated: "The King James Bible is not, nor has it ever been, copyrighted" (To All Generations, p. 69). Michael O’Neal wrote: “The text of your King James Bible, beloved, is not copyrighted” (Do We Have, p. 19). Ansel Metz claimed: "The Authorized King James Bible is not copyrighted. It is public domain and always has been" (Analysis of the KJ21, p. 10). Len Smith wrote: “The text of the King James is neither owned nor controlled by man” (Age of Reason, D22, p. 17). Jeff Fugate commented: "You look in your Bible, and if it's a King James (if it's not, you may as well just throw it away, because it's not an inspired book any more than the song book is), but if you'll look at the King James Bible you will not find a copyright in it" (Revival Fires, July, 1996, p. 13).

 

I had never heard or read that. It is a fact that KJV's could not be printed in America before the American Revolution.


In the reference work Dictionary of Christianity in America, this fact is stated: "Before the Revolutionary War, the publication of English-language Bibles was prohibited in America, since the King's printers in England enjoyed an exclusive copyright to printing the KJV" (p. 132). Margaret Hills wrote: "After the Revolution American printers felt no compunction to heed the British monopoly on the printing of the King James Bible" (English Bible in America, p. xvii). De Hamel observed: "It had not been legal to publish any English Bible in North America while it was a British colony" (The Book, p. 259).

The first German Bible is said to be printed in America in 1743 while the first KJV is said to be printed in 1782.

There had been a English translation of the Psalms made in America and printed in 1640. The 1640 Bay Psalm Book was translated by Richard Mather (1596-1669), John Eliot (1604-1690),Thomas Welde, and others. William Barker noted that John Cotton (1584-1652) “had a hand in producing the Bay Psalm Book” (Puritan Profiles, p. 265). Zoltan Haraszti concluded that John Cotton was the author of the preface to the 1640 Bay Psalm Book (Enigma, p. 18). Daniell maintained that other translators of the Bay Psalm Book included John Cotton, John Wilson, Nathanael Ward, Peter Bulkeley, Thomas Shepard, and John Norton (Bible in English, p. 519). Many editions of the Bay Psalm Book were printed from 1640-1762

 

In short, there are several Bibles in English, most of which are, but some of which are not (currently) copyrighted, in the United States, for various reasons.

I suspect that is similar to the situation in other countries, as well.

And copyright laws vary from country to country, and over the years, as well. From the days of the Bishop's Bible, or so, forward, most have made an attempt to copyright, although some did not, or were not approved.

The primary reasons are two-fold, fidelity and monetary. And both are valid reasons, IMO.

'KJV' copyrighted? What edition? What country?

Ed

 

As I wrote in another thread, I have several KJV copies, all of which are copyrighted in the USA, except for the repro AV1611, which still have "cum privilegio" on the title pages.

The respective copyrights are for the extratextual material such as maps, concordances, etc.

Personally, I'm gladta have copyrighted copies of other versions as well as having the British copyright on the KJV because that tells me I have AUTHENTIC copies.



The KJV is currently under Crown copyright in the UK. The authorized publishers/printers are the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, as well as William Collins Sons & Co., Ltd (Now known as Harper Collins, owned by Ruppert Murdoch) , and Eyre & Spottiswoode. If you have a British-made copy of the KJV from any of those four companies, you'll see the words "cum privilegio" on the title page.

The KJVO argument against copyrighted Bibles is horse feathers.

 

The KJV had the copyright of that day. The copyright of that day existed more for the benefit of printers or publishers than for the authors or translators. John Tebbel wrote: “There had been a copyright of sorts in England from 1518” (History of Book Publishing, p. 46). Robert Sargent, a KJV-only advocate, noted that Robert Barker paid 3,500 pounds for the copyright of the KJV and that Barker's firm held the rights to print the KJV until 1709 (English Bible: Manuscript Evidence, p. 226). The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church also pointed out that Robert Barker bought the final manuscript of the KJV (now lost) for 3,500 pounds, "which included the copyright" (p. 135). W. H. T. Wrede noted that Cantrell Legge, printer at Cambridge, attempted to print the 1611 KJV in 1614, but Robert Baker “claimed the sole right of Bible printing under his Patent” and prevented him from printing it (Short History, pp. 5-6). Allister McGrath observed that "Barker was obliged to hand over the copyright to Bonham Norton in 1617 as financial security" and only regained control of it in 1629 (In The Beginning, p. 199). Barker would end up in prison for debt.


Theodore Letis, a defender of the Textus Receptus, wrote: "This Bible [the KJV] had the Cum Privilegio ("with privilege") printed on it which meant that the Crown of England, as the official head of the state church, held the copyright to this Bible, giving permission only to those printers which the Crown had chosen" (Revival of the Ecclesiastical Text and the Claims of the Anabaptists, p. 29). Even KJV-only author David Cloud acknowledged that “the King James Bible was produced under the direct authority of the British Crown and is owned and ’copyrighted’ by the crown of England” (Faith, p. 584).