On the legal front, we have been receiving some flak from a particular Bible Society. They are claiming rights over a few of the texts we offer online and trying to force us to take them down. We have responded and challenged their claim since the texts in question are at least 50 years old. We also claimed non-profit, fair use and public interest. We have investigated online and we found quotes like this: ‘Translations are a derivative work, and only the copyright owner can authorize a translation that will be distributed. This envisions a work that is translated into another language and distributed in the parts of the world where that language is spoken. Derivative works are infringing if they are not created with the permission of the copyright holder.’ Also this: ‘Limitations and exceptions to copyright are provisions in copyright law which allow for copyrighted works to be used without a license from the copyright owner. Limitations and exceptions to copyright relate to a number of important considerations such as market failure, freedom of speech, education and equality of access ...’. We appreciate your prayers against those who would rather we do not offer Biblical texts online to protect their business interests and for complete freedom of publishing the Holy Bible in its oldest and most integral forms without restrictions for all mankind.
Copyright-cartoon
From a pure business perspective the debate over copyrights and the extension of it has been raging for scores of years: In the 19th century it was already a big issue. Some Thomas Macaulay in the British House of Commons is quoted as stating: “Copyrights is monopoly and produces the effect which the general voice of mankind attributes to monopoly.. I may take safely for granted that the effect of monopoly generally is to make articles scarce, to make them dear, and to make them bad… It is good that authors should be remunerated and the least exceptional way of remunerating them is by a monopoly. Yet monopoly is evil. For the sake of the good we must submit to the evil; but the evil must not last a day longer than is necessary for the purpose of securing the good.” – The travesty is that, in fact, these Bible Societies are not the authors not even, in most cases, the translators of the Bible, but only self proclaimed trustees.
You might want to be enlighten by a very interesting work on this topic called : ‘copyright God – Enforcement of Copyright in the Bible and Religious Work‘ – which starts with this quote from Mark Twain: ‘Only one thing is impossible for God: to find any sense to any copyright law on the planet’.
http://www.regent.edu/acad/schlaw/student_life/studentorgs/lawreview/docs/issues/v14n1/Vol.%2014,%20No.%201,%201%20Syn.pdf
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Courtesy: http://mimiandeunice.com/category/law/page/2/
