1. Welcome to Baptist Board, a friendly forum to discuss the Baptist Faith in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to all the features that our community has to offer.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!

KJV and copyright

Discussion in '2000-02 Archive' started by Refreshed, Dec 11, 2002.

  1. Refreshed

    Refreshed Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2002
    Messages:
    919
    Likes Received:
    7
    Faith:
    Baptist
    This message is to everyone with whom I have been discussing copyright law. Please accept my apologies, as I was wrong. Thank you for leading me to this discovery.

    Larry, you were right as well about the reason for copyrighting, to assure preservation.

    David Cloud:
    Click here

    I was going to put this on the appropriate thread, but it was locked.

    Thanks,

    Jason
     
  2. Abiyah

    Abiyah <img src =/abiyah.gif>

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2002
    Messages:
    5,194
    Likes Received:
    0
    Refreshed --

    Thank you for giving me the opportunity to say
    that those who hold copyrights are not normally
    withhout heart or common sense regarding their
    ownership of materials. I have written to those
    holding copyrights on many things and have
    never been refused the right to copy something I
    needed.

    I have gotten permission to copy music, unusual
    Bibles, comic strips for repeat publication, and
    more. They just want us to be honest and do as
    the law requires.
     
  3. AV Defender

    AV Defender New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2002
    Messages:
    316
    Likes Received:
    0
    The KJV is under a crown copyright and is PUBLIC DOMAIN,so copy & distribute as you wish.
     
  4. Squire Robertsson

    Squire Robertsson Administrator
    Administrator

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2000
    Messages:
    15,371
    Likes Received:
    2,405
    Faith:
    Baptist
    Also, in these United States, a Crown Copyright would have reverted to the original 13 former colonies after their sucessful revolution. As none exercised that right, the AV 1611 reverted to the public domain. Further, IIRC as a government document, under current law, the AV 1611 would not be copyrighted to begin with.

    [ December 11, 2002, 07:11 PM: Message edited by: The Squire ]
     
  5. Refreshed

    Refreshed Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2002
    Messages:
    919
    Likes Received:
    7
    Faith:
    Baptist
    Thank you for your comments. Stated flatly - the KJV is public domain. The modern versions are restricted as to distribution.
     
  6. swordsman

    swordsman New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2002
    Messages:
    175
    Likes Received:
    0
    I know one thing, I learned something today, Thanks.
     
  7. Jeff Weaver

    Jeff Weaver New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2001
    Messages:
    2,056
    Likes Received:
    0
    The Squire opined, above:

    Squire

    I believe that you are in error on this point. You seem to be mixing US Copyright law and U.K. copyright law. In the U.K. government documents are copyrighted by the crown In the U.S., Federal government documents are automatically placed in the public domain. However, documents produced by state, or local governments may or may not be copyrighted. It would be wise to find out before reproducing them.

    In another life (before disability) this was one of my areas of responsibility. In that capacity, it was occasionally necessary to request permission to cite U.K. government documents from Her Majesty's Stationary Office, London.

    As for the copyright reverting to the 13 colonies. Just ain't so. British copyrights were and still were, as I understand it a crown perogative. Perhaps one of our British Board Members will correct me if I am wrong, but don't think so.

    As for the crown's continued claim to copyright to the Authorized Version, I believe they do make such a claim. How enforceable that claim might be, I am not competent to say.

    Hope it helps.

    Jeff
     
  8. Jim1999

    Jim1999 <img src =/Jim1999.jpg>

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2002
    Messages:
    15,460
    Likes Received:
    1
    As I mentioned in an earlier post, my copy of the King James Version has the copright notice in the front,,and is dated up to 1945 (the year I was given that particular Bible in London, England). My North American KJV do not have the copyright warning in the front, but they have a New York publisher. Could this be the difference? I don't know.

    Does it all really matter? Most of us quote from the other Bibles without regard for the copyright, unless we are doing a scholarly publication.

    Cheers,

    Jim
     
  9. HankD

    HankD Well-Known Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    May 14, 2001
    Messages:
    26,977
    Likes Received:
    2,536
    Faith:
    Baptist
    Dear Jim,

    In one sense KJV copywrite doesn't matter, we all (well, most anyway) agree that the KJV is the Word of God at least by manuscript derivation whether it is copywritten or not.

    To many of the more radical KJVO however it is a bone of contention, which contention in my estimation is less than useless because it causes dissention and stife among the brethren.

    Psalm 31:20 Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.

    HankD
     
  10. Ransom

    Ransom Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2000
    Messages:
    4,132
    Likes Received:
    1
    Refreshed said:

    Stated flatly - the KJV is public domain. The modern versions are restricted as to distribution.

    OK, since you insist on making a big deal out of the copyright argument, answer this:

    Was the KJV the Word of God before it passed into the public domain?
     
  11. Ransom

    Ransom Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2000
    Messages:
    4,132
    Likes Received:
    1
    Jim 1999 said:

    Does it all really matter? Most of us quote from the other Bibles without regard for the copyright, unless we are doing a scholarly publication.

    Scholarly or not, quoting from other Bibles for proof-texting, preaching, public reading, etc. isn't an infringement of copyright anyway, according to the "fair dealing" provisions of copyright law.

    Does it matter? Hardly. The 500- or 1000-verse limit, for which Zondervan and other publishers explicitly grant permission, is more than ample for anything short of a major reference work. (500 contiguous verses is the equivalent of about the first half of Genesis.) And given the cost of wholesale duplication of the Bible, it's probably cheaper just to buy them from the publisher anyway.

    This is why the KJV-onlyists' harping about copyright is such a non-issue.
     
  12. Pastor Larry

    Pastor Larry <b>Moderator</b>
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    May 4, 2001
    Messages:
    21,763
    Likes Received:
    0
    No they are not. You can distribute however you want to. They are restricted as to copying.
     
  13. Refreshed

    Refreshed Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2002
    Messages:
    919
    Likes Received:
    7
    Faith:
    Baptist
    Would you all please get off my apology! Good grief. Find your own thread to argue on.
     
  14. Johnv

    Johnv New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 24, 2001
    Messages:
    21,321
    Likes Received:
    0
    The KJV was once a modern version.
     
  15. Refreshed

    Refreshed Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2002
    Messages:
    919
    Likes Received:
    7
    Faith:
    Baptist
    The KJV was once a modern version.</font>[/QUOTE]Yeah, but it wasn't when I wrote that!

    Isn't anyone going to argue with me about my apology? That's what this thread is about. This is the last time i'm posting here.
     
  16. BrianT

    BrianT New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2002
    Messages:
    3,516
    Likes Received:
    0
    You want someone to aruge about your apology? Why? It was very nice, no need to argue it. [​IMG]
     
  17. Pastor Larry

    Pastor Larry <b>Moderator</b>
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    May 4, 2001
    Messages:
    21,763
    Likes Received:
    0
    You want someone to aruge about your apology? Why? It was very nice, no need to argue it. [​IMG] </font>[/QUOTE]I am still formulating an argument. It is much harder than the other stuff on this forum :D
     
  18. Ransom

    Ransom Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2000
    Messages:
    4,132
    Likes Received:
    1
    Refreshed said:

    Yeah, but it wasn't [a modern version] when I wrote that!

    So did the KJV auto-magically become the Word of God after it stopped being a "modern version"?

    Or did it become the Word of God after its copyright lapsed?
     
Loading...