Is your Bible copyrighted?

I like the idea of a copyrighted Bible. As it stands you can do anything you want and call it a"King James Bible" in America since it has no legal protection.

 

Most Bibles, including the one I use most, that I possess are copyrighted.

However, I have and use some that are not, and I possess at least one version, that was under copyright when I acquired it, but that version now in the "public domain".

Did anyone know that the Wycliffe Bible and the Tyndale Bible editions that are published today in the US are under copyright, where the Editors modernized the spellings?

Incidentally, I have seen a rather new KJV edition, that is printed in the US, and is also US copyrighted, even though it is highly likely that the actual text was a 'copy' of an uncopyrighted text. Contrary to some of what I've seen posted on these pages, at times, it happens to be a "pew Bible", not a "Study Bible", of any sort (Can one copyright the lack of the KJV introduction, and any other references or notes??) and there are no notes or other extraneous material, that I noticed except for a "Table of Contents", and four maps.

AS C4K has stated, a copyright guards against surreptitious changes, for those of us such as I, who are probably usually, largely uninformed. One would have to read every word in a parallel manner, to note any changes, sometimes.

Does anyone realisitically think the 'average churchman' did that with the appearance(s) of the 'stolen' and 'fake' KJVs that first appeared, and continue to appear in the US since around 1790??

Example of one that is probably the real thing -

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Bible-Authori...402731QQihZ011QQcategoryZ101030QQcmdZViewItem

The 'fake' one -

http://www.ioffer.com/i/THE-HOLY-BIBLE-Containing-The-Old-and-New-Testaments-Au-35139866

This is not to disparage the KJV, as a Bible version, in any way. But it does show the inconsistency of those who, somehow, see nothing wrong with someone earning money with a 'pirated' publication and denying the holders of the KJV of the copyrights, their rightful royalties and money to be earned from lawfully publishing a Bible edition, and at the same time, decrying the publishers of other versions for lawfully earning money from publishing a copyrighted Bible edition.

The 'hypocrisy' seen and heard in this approach is deafening!

Ed

 

Greyden Press, who printed the 1611 edition of the KJV that is available at Greatsite.com, claims a copyright (c2000) for its digital reproduction of the 1611 edition of the KJV. On its copyright page, it states: "All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a data base retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher."

 

It seems to me that copyrighting is a wise thing to do to preserve the word of God from being tampered with.

 

I disagree. People tamper with the Word of God whether it is copyrighted or not. The copyright does nothing to prevent tampering.

 

From Bible Gateway.com:

Version Information

In 1604, King James I of England authorized that a new translation of the Bible into English be started. It was finished in 1611, just 85 years after the first translation of the New Testament into English appeared (Tyndale, 1526). The Authorized Version, or King James Version, quickly became the standard for English-speaking Protestants. Its flowing language and prose rhythm has had a profound influence on the literature of the past 300 years. The King James Version present on the Bible Gateway matches the 1987 printing. The KJV is public domain in the United States.

Copyright Information

No copyright information available.

The King James Version is in the public domain in the United States; you may copy and quote from it without restriction. The other Bibles at the Bible Gateway, however, are not in the public domain, unless otherwise specified. You can find copyright information for all of the Bibles at the Bible Gateway here.

http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/?action=getVersionInfo&vid=9

http://www.biblegateway.com/help/faq/?id=2#10

The text of the KJV is not copyrighted, however the study notes are copyrighted. Is God not able to preserve His Word without a copyright?

 

And as everybody does that is the only place that counts.

 

This is actually referring, I believe, to the Edition of the version cited. Were the edition quoted that of an 'English edition' the Copyright would be listed.

While this is probably technically true, it is unfortunately, still misleading, although I do not believe Linda64 intended to mislead, at all. Roughly a third of the version/editions cited on Bible Gateway are in the Public Domain, and there are several more versions that are not in the English language, than there are in the English language. Of the 22 English language versions cited, the YLT, DARBY, ASV and Douay, as well as the KJV are in the public domain.

This is an oversimplification. In fact, some notes are not copyrighted, either. (I previously mentioned a KJV 'Pew Bible' without any study notes that is of relatively recent copyright. This is not some hearsay; this is the Pew Bible in use in my own church.) For example, the original 1909 notes of the Scofield Reference Bible are no longer under copyright, I believe. (I'm not sure about the revised 1917 notes.)

A sly sideways jab that is not even close to the issue at hand in this thread!

Ed

 

I have a question? Is it ethical for Christians to not respect the copyright that is held in England on the KJV? It seems as though we just don't recognizee it in this country, but what is the just and honest stance to take on it? I looked at one of my KJV Bibles which was printed in England some years ago, and it is clear that permission is to be granted to print copies.

 

Its clear that God only really cares about America because that is the only country that has a copyright free Bible. And the most important thing about the Bible is that it be copyright free. The rest of the world can just suffer. :tear:

Some folks just don't think through all the implications of their theories, or honestly think that the United States is the focal point of God's attention.

I'll stop before I that hard nosed moderator (C4K) has to come in and edit my post .

 

Not just England, but the whole of the UK. But on the world wide web, are not dicussions of copyright doomed to failure, or at least to confusion, simply because laws concerning copyright vary from country to country?

 

I believe the copyright thingie is just another KJVO attempt to find some justification for their doctrine. Personally, I LIKE a copyright's appearing in a Bible, because that assures me I'm getting a GENUINE ARTICLE.

 

No, or in Ireland either.

 

Nobody have an opinion to the question?