The Bible - Profits not Prophets

[Miss Inquiry]

Generally the author of a book gets a percentage of the profits made from sales. Who gets the profits from the bible, the publishers obviously will get a %, but does the church somehow hold royalties? I am assuming Matthew, Mark, Luke and John's family don't get anything as no one really knows who they were..... Anyone got any suggestions?

[Octavius]

In most of the world the King James Bible is freely reproduced as if it were out of copyright. This is not the case in the UK.

In the UK, the rights to the Authorized Version are held by the British Crown. The rights fall outside the scope of copyright as defined in statute law. Instead they fall under the purview of the Royal Prerogative and as such they are perpetual in subsistence. Publishers are licensed to reproduce the Authorized Version under letters patent. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the letters patent are held by the Queen's Printer, and in Scotland by the Scottish Bible Board. The office of Queen's Printer has been associated with the right to reproduce the Bible for many years, with the earliest known reference coming in 1577. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the Queen's Printer is Cambridge University Press although the Oxford UP are also permitted to print the KJV. The original printing of the King James Version was published by Robert Barker in 1611 and could be bought looseleaf for ten shillings, or bound for twelve. I imagine any royalties went to the crown treasury.

Prior to this there were many �versions� of the bible mostly Vetus Latina (a collection of biblical manuscripts) of which preceded any copyright laws.

[Clanad]

Obviously, the historical sources of the text(s) have no copyright and anyone can publish a Bible. Usually, however a company is set up to market a particular translation. In the case of The New International Version (NIV) for example, which a relatively new translation of the Bible made by more than a 100 scholars working directly from the best available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts, the corporate body engaged in the actual translation and publication work is The International Bible Society (IBT), which is the translation sponsor of the New International Version� (NIV). The Committee on Bible Translation (CBT) is an international, non-denominational working group of scholars, historians and linguists engaged by the IBS. The CBT produced the translation after nearly 20 years planning and work and then had the publishing rights to that particular book. It was well received by most evangelicals and the profits received, after paying enormous expenses have largely gone into further research as well as publishing a Children's bible in NIV. The NIV was published in the U.S.

Although the NIV is well received by many denominations, it isn't the intellectual property of any one church body, but rather that of the IBT. Anyone may use it's content, but, of course, as with other copyrighted publications, it may not be printed verbatim and sold commercially...

[spudmuffa]

Interesting question. It is God who gets 40% of the profits, as he was the inspiration for most of the biblical stories, and actually wrote in stone (using lightning) the "Ten Commandments".
Anyone out there, who has not been paying their royalties, should send them to me, and I will ensure that they get to God. Hope this helps.