I was into a rabbit hole questioning me about God’s existence, debating myself and looking for different opinions of different people, when, sadly, I found that the bible is copyrighted.
You can find the licenses nearly at the bottom. https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/es/Hebreos 11%3A6
It’s was sad, because it make me stop questioning me about the existence of god, everything started because I said to me “if god exists, then faith is useless, we need the inexistence of god to have faith”, but that, makes me feel less faith
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If any, the copyright applies to a translation, not the text as such. You can always take either an older version of a translation or take the original text and work with those.
The number of assholes falsely claiming copyright on public-domain stuff is too damn high!
A particular Bible translation made in something like the last hundred years might be copyrighted. Outside of that, it’s public domain.
It’s also possible for a newer translation to be put into the public domain by the translator.
Is there anything to prevent me from calling something a translation of the bible, but really it’s just the story of how I think my dog sees me mixed with the plot of fight club?
No. Well, not in the US. Some country somewhere probably has blasphemy law. Not unless you get really confusingly-similar to some trademarked Bible translation, enough that there was risk of confusion. And that’d be trademark law, not copyright.
EDIT: Well, okay. Maybe truth-in-advertising law. Like, if you actively misled buyers to the point that they thought that they were getting something totally different.
If you’re selling it for money and it’s not clear how inaccurate of a translation it is, that could be fraud.
I see. I need some time to digest the idea
KJV is public domain. And you won’t get in trouble for pirating the NIV.
edit: on second thought, consider using a vpn when pirating anything.
Copyrights don’t last perpetually, and the bible is old enough to be public domain. Newer translations and editions can be under copyright but the underlying work is public domain.
Copyright purportedly exists to promote the sciences and useful arts. Historical scholarship, and the research into old manuscripts in making a new edition of any old work does have value, and does entitle you to a copyright. However, scholarly editions generally have a shorter term than original works.
The bible is public domain, but there are copyrighted editions. The same can be said for most historical works of note. There are copyrighted editions of Beethoven’s symphonies, Shakespeare’s plays, and Arthur Conan Doyle’s books, despite the original works being public domain.
I don’t think copyrights are evidence for or against the existence of any god, or the validity of any religion. The fact that there are copyrighted editions means there is interest in studying the texts, which is true for every extant religion.
In Britain, two works have perpetual copyright:
The King James Bible, copyright held by the Crown.
Peter Pan, copyright bequeathed to Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital (royalties only - GOSH have no right to refuse use).
Does God own the copyright? He “wrote” it, but he also died. Does coming back to life mean shit to copyright law? Does it matter that only 1/3 of Him died? 🤔
The copyright transfers to his child/children… which is also him…
I need a lie down.
Technically, according to christians, “we are all gods children”, so that means you own enough of a copyright to print and sell bibles.
Oh ho!
I have a cunning plan…
Forget about God for a while, and drink a beer in the shower. You’ll feel better.
Now that’s a religion I can follow, can you tell me more??
Wikipedia provides the history. A nice cold beer in a warm shower can be very refreshing! (Wine and a bubble bath is also acceptable, but who has the time, you know?)
Copyright doesn’t make faith useless or disprove God. Textual criticism, archaeology, and science do that far more thoroughly.
P.S. Bibles are copyrighted simply because publishers want to protect their editions. A lot of time and effort goes into it. Source texts and older translations aren’t copyright and are freely available from a number of sources.
there are reasons for it, and there are versions of the bible in public domain. you can decide if those reasons are right for yourself example.
Look into the Gideons. I don’t agree with all their philosophy obviously, but they’re like the Open Source/Open Knowledge group of the Christian faith.
One of their main things is that they think since the Bible is the word of God, and people deserve to be saved, that it’s their job to ensure everyone gets a fair shake at access to a Bible without having to pay for it. You used to always be able to find a Bible in a hotel thanks to them, and they’re often at public gatherings handing out copies as well.
I’m not religious, and I don’t agree with much of what they believe, but I do think that is an appropriate way to view the situation, that it should be freely available to all instead of essentially locked behind a paywall.
It sounds like they don’t have their own translation.
https://www.quora.com/Which-translation-of-the-Bible-does-the-Gideons-International-distribute
Which translation of the Bible does the Gideons International distribute?
Depending on the language, the most currently accepted translation in the language of the print. As a Gideon since 1994, I have distributed thousands of free New Testament versions and placed hundreds of hotel Bibles. Until recently, the New King James Bible (NKJV) was the most common version in English. It is acceptable to 55% of English speakers, the next highest is the NIV with 19%.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_King_James_Version
Copyright: The Holy Bible, New King James Version® Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Gideons International, an organization that places Bibles in hotels and hospitals, at one stage used the NKJV translation along with the KJV, offering the KJV as the default translation and offering the NKJV when an organization asked for a Bible in newer English to be used. After HarperCollins’ acquisition of Thomas Nelson, however, the Gideons have chosen to start using the English Standard Version (ESV) instead of the NKJV.[10][11]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Standard_Version
Copyright: The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.
Yeah my point was less about the copyright aspect and more about the free distribution aspect. It’s definitely sad that they don’t have their own free-and-open-for-all version but oh well.
Pretty sure the copyright on the KJV, which is obviously the best version, has expired by now.
Indeed – it is out of copyright. KJV is available for free here: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10 (among other places)
I’ve read it cover-to-cover (excepting some parts like the census results in Numbers that I skimmed) despite not being a Christian. It is a rather challenging read.
KJV, which is obviously the best version
Is this a joke or are you serious? What’s “best” in a person’s view depends on their values, (like the “best” food depends on what flavours a person likes, and their nutritional needs)
What values would a person need to have to consider the KJV the best? I don’t think it’s the easiest to read, nor the easiest to understand, nor the most accurate. I don’t think it’s the oldest English translation either and it’s also biased. Is it the most poetic, maybe?
Is this a joke or are you serious?
Both. I realize it’s not for everyone, but I like it the best. When I got into it, what I was looking for in a religious text was not that it be “the easiest” but I didn’t want to learn Latin or Hebrew either.
