If you record yourself reading a book & sell it do you have to obtain copyright permission?

Copyrights on performances involve both the written work recited or performed and the recitation itself. The rules differ on each. But you cannot generally record for commercial purposes (for sale or public playing) a work not in the public domain without the consent of the rights holder.

As many novels and autobiographies (viz: the Clinton autobiography) are recorded and sold on DVDs, you can have a look at those. Note that special, more lenient, rules apply on rentals by public libraries. (Rentals of recorded works other than video recordings are generally prohibited, with that exception.)

I'm not exactly sure, but I do believe it would need to be cleared through the publishers of NIV, NLV, and NASB. After obtaining permission from them, then yes, you could sell it and have it copywrited. Think about it, would you want someone to tape record your "voice" or "masterpiece" and then turn around and sell it without you knowing? You would miss out on all of the royalties from it. That is why musicians were angry over people downloading their songs and selling them. Other people were making a fortune off something they didn't even invest any money or time to produce and distribute.

No one owns a copyright of the Bible; it belongs to all people & that is why it can be read aloud to others.

But you would need permission if a book has a copyright because you would be making money off of someone else's creativity.

For example, I quilt & I can copy any quilt in any book that I want & I can give the quilts as gifts. But I would have to ask the designer of the quilt for permission to sell it. Most designers will only allow this if the proceeds will be donated to charity.

If the book is copyrighted, then you must obtain a 'mechanical license' to make a copy in any form. If you cannot reach the copyright owner, or they are unwilling to give you such a license, you cannot record/distribute the book.

If the book is not copyright, you can reproduce it in any form without a license.

No copyright exists for the King James Bible.

Your reading a copyrighted work with intent to distribute is what is called a derived work. You need permission, a licence agreement , or other form of authorisation from whoever holds the rights to the original work to be able to proceed without fear of legal action, and likely loss of any profits from your work, plus damages and legal fees.

and to make it clear, while the bible itself is in the public domain (as is the KJV), modern translations are still copyright of the individual translator(s) and publisher for the legal duration.

If the book you record is under a copyright then you have to obtain copyright permission. If it is an uncopyrighted book (i.e. one whose copyright has expired) then no permission is required.