Why is there copyright on the Bible?
Which translations of the Bible are protected by the copyright of the Bible Society of South Africa?
Who holds the copyright for the English translations of the Bible?
What are the costs involved in copyright?
Under what circumstances is it not necessary to apply for copyright?
Download the complete copyright policy of the Bible Society here.
Download the application form here.
For any other queries please fill in the form below:
Why is there copyright on the Bible?
The most prominent reasons for copyright on any published work are firstly to protect the integrity of the text and, secondly, to protect the rights of the copyright holder.
The Bible Society of South Africa is a non-profit organisation. Our mission is to make the Bible available in the languages of the South African people at an affordable price. A Braille Bible, for example, costs more than R3 000 to produce, but is made available to the blind at R48. This is much lower than the price of normal books of the same size.
In order to allow the Bible Society to continue this service of translation, publication, and distribution, we rely on voluntary donations from individuals, churches, and businesses.
Copyright on the Bible helps to protect the integrity of the text. In line with the South African copyright law:
- No person may make changes to the text of the Bible in order to support his, or her, personal theology, or other opinions.
- No person may publish text from the Bible, which has been translated from the original languages by the Bible Society at great cost, without permission and to make a profit.
- Furthermore, we must consider that the Bible Society of South Africa has also established contracts with the copyright holders of some English Bibles, and must, therefore, pay copyright fees on every such copy that is published.
- Both the 1933/53 and the 1983 translations of the Bible in Afrikaans are protected by copyright, and are freely available for reading purposes on the website www.bybel.co.za
- The different translations of the Northern Sotho, Xhosa and Zulu Bibles are protected by copyright, and are freely available for reading purposes on the website www.bibles.co.za
Which translations of the Bible are protected by the copyright of the Bible Society of South Africa?
Please note that the date which appears next to a translation is only the name of the translation and not necessarily the latest copyright date.
Afrikaans
Die Bybel 1933/53
Die Bybel 1983
Die Bybel vir Dowes
Die Bybel vir Almal
Northern Sotho
Bibele 1951
Bibele: Taba ye Botse 2000
Southern Ndebele
ITastamende Elitjha namaRhalani akhethiweko 1986 (New Testament)
Southern Sotho
Bibele 1979 (Lesotho orthography)
Bibele 1961 (Standard orthography)
Bibele: Phetholelo e Ncha 1989 (Lesotho orthography)
Bibele: Phetholelo e Ntjha 1989 (Standard orthography)
Swati
LiBhayibheli 1996
Tsonga
Bibele 1929
Bibele: Mahungu Lamanene 1989
Tswana
Beibele 1970
Baebele e e Boitshepo 1992
Venda
Bivhili 1980
Bivhili Khethwa: Mafhungo Madifha 1998
Xhosa
Izhibhalo Ezingcwele 1975
IBhayibhile 1996
Zulu
IBhayibheli Elingcwele 1959
Ithestamente eliSha namaHubo 1986 (New Testament and Psalms)
Who holds the copyright for the English translations of the Bible?
Contact the following organisations to apply for English copyright:
CEV (Contemporary English Version)
Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society
American Bible Society
1865 Broadway
New York, NY 10023 USA
Thomas Durakis e-mail:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.americanbible.org
ESV (English Standard Version)
Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles
Good News Publishers
1300 Crescent Street, Wheaton, IL 60187 USA
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
KJV (King James Version) also AV (Authorised Version)
No copyright (Public Domain)
NIV (New International Version)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society.
International Bible Society (South Africa)
Please visit www.biblica.com
NKJV (New King James)
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Thomas Nelson Publishers
Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions
501 Nelson Place, Nashville, Tennessee 37214-1000 USA
Ansley Boatman e-mail:
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TEV (Today’s English Version) also GNT (Good News Translation)
Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society
American Bible Society
1865 Broadway
New York, NY 10023 USA
Thomas Durakis e-mail:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.americanbible.org
What are the costs involved in copyright?
The cost of copyright are determined for each individual publication. The cost is decided on the grounds of the number of scriptural passages that are quoted, as well as the percentage of the product that consists of scriptural quotes. The copyright fees are based, thereafter, on the selling price of the specific publication.
Under what circumstances is it not necessary to apply for copyright?
The Bible Society of South Africa gladly offers permission to authors and publishers to quote up to five hundred (500) verses from the Bible in any format (written, visual, electronic, or audio). The quoted verses may not, however, exceed fifty percent (50%) of a complete book of the Bible, or more than twenty-five percent (25%) of the total text in which they are quoted, otherwise permission must be secured in advance. Copyright must still, however, be acknowledged:
© Quotations from the Bible in (language) (date) — with permission from the Bible Society of South Africa.
Congregational use of Bible quotations has to do with the normal use of the Bible. Copyright makes provision for the reasonable use of quotations, and it is in no way the aim of the Bible Society to restrict the normal use of the Bible.
As soon as Bible quotations are used in a publication which leads to the commercial gain of the publisher, written permission must be obtained from the Bible Society, and the necessary copyright acknowledgement granted.
