Is the bible under copyright?

No, the King James version of the Bible is not under copyright, although substantially edited or translated versions of it would probably be under a copyright, provided they satisfy some basic criteria.

The length of the copyright term within the United States was extended by the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act which made the copyright term the life of the author plus 70 years for works created after January 1, 1978. In the case of a work of corporate authorship (also known as "Work for Hire") the term will be 95 years from the date of first publication or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever expires first. This legislation was challenged in court and affirmed by the US Supreme Court in the landmark copyright decision, Eldred v. Ashcroft (2003), in which the Supreme Court agreed that the length of the copyright term (ie, during which the copyright holder has a monopoly on its exploitation) could be extended by Congress after the original act of creation and beginning of the copyright term, as long as the extension itself was limited instead of perpetual. The duration of U.S. copyright for works created before 1978 is a complex matter; however, works published before 1923 are all in the public domain. In the US, after the death of a copyright holder, heirs inherit the copyright.

They key to deciding whether work can be copyrighted is that it be 'original' and 'fixed' onto a medium that is readable. Books are 'fixed' naturally, but in order for any author to copyright the bible, they would have to prove that their version is 'original'.

This means that some versions of the Bible may be under a copyright if the authors/editors have substantially changed the text or added commentary. In cases such as those, the substantially changed text and commentary would be under copyright, but not the parts of that bible which correspond to older, uncopyrighted works. This means that abridged or translated versions of the bible would be under a copyright, as the authors/editors would have changed the text and it would constitute an 'original' peice of work. In cases such as those, the 2nd paragraph, above, would apply.

If you read the bible and recorded your recital of it, you WOULD have a copyright over your recording, as it would be an 'original' sound recording. Therefore, anyone using your recording, would be prohibited from copying it or exploiting it for commerical use. As long as the version you recorded from book form to voice was an unabridged, untranslated version that corresponded to what I outlined above, you would not need any permission to record it and exploit it commercially.

The King James Version is not copyrighted.

However, most other versions of the Bible, including the New American Standard Bible and the New International Version _are_ copyrighted.

If you look at the beginning of almost any Bible, the copyright rules will be listed, saying what you can and cannot do as far as republishing the text.

Presumably, turning it into audio or some other media would be a form of copying the text.

customarily the KJV isn't less than copyright by means of the undeniable fact that is so previous, in spite of the undeniable fact that you want to be careful you're not any further making use of a more beneficial moderen version that someone has prepare. As for most present day translations (NIV, NASB, ESV, and so on), those are less than copyright and permission is necessary. you may in many cases discover permission practise on the translations internet website. in many cases, even at the same time as that is spoken instead of written, it remains seen copyright infringement to reproduction it.

I think that The Bible is Copyrighted, the burning question is 'To Whom'? Should you want to resale it, that would be your choice and the choice of the buyer. As far recording a voice reproduction of it, you would own the voice reproduction - no doubt. And therefore would not be selling the portion or portions of The Bible, but your effort.

Hehe, I would tread very carefully if you plan on fiddling with the bible. If you do anything to piss anyone off you wil have millionis of people ready to tear your head off..... Well, not literally but just be careful. You probably dont want to go to court with God for messing with his book : P

American Copyright laws only extend 200 years back. So NO

No. But some of the renderings/translations are.

You need to pay royalties to peter and paul