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?
If you're selling it for money and it's not clear how inaccurate of a translation it is, that could be fraud.
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.
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.
Forget about God for a while, and drink a beer in the shower. You'll feel better.
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.
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.
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