Posted on 12/31/2010 8:52:23 AM PST by Colofornian
PROVO — In 1840, it was a race against time.
The first one to print a copy of the Mormons' new scripture and register it at Stationer's Hall in London would control printing rights in all of Great Britain, meaning that whoever held the copyright to the Book of Mormon had the right to present it however they wanted to. They could print as many or as few as they wished. The copyright holder could also change the text at will, and the Mormons could do nothing to stop them.
From the archive
* Utah publisher sued for copyright infringement – Aug. 4, 2010
* Liverpool was ground zero for Mormon publishing – March 26, 2010
* Tips for living: Getting a copyright – March 18, 2010
* Germans may print 'Mein Kampf' – Feb. 7, 2010
The first American edition of the Book of Mormon was published in 1830, followed by another edition published in Kirtland, Ohio in 1837. But an American-printed edition could not get British copyright protection.
Edward L. Carter, an associate professor of communication at BYU, spoke at the Mormon Media Studies Symposium at BYU recently about the significance of the 1841 British copyright of the Book of Mormon. The danger of copyright infringement was not hypothetical to the fledgling LDS Church. The first excerpts of the Book of Mormon in the United States were published by church enemy, and only threats of legal action backed up by U.S. copyright law stopped any further use.
A recently found document...about copyright protection for the Book of Mormon. In what he considered a revelation from God, Joseph Smith was commanded to "be diligent in securing the copyright of my work upon all the face of the earth of which is known by you ..."
(Excerpt) Read more at deseretnews.com ...
Hmmm...Now why doesn't the Bible have all these copyright prophecies in it as well -- perhaps one per prophet???
Well, as another year goes into the history bin, time to reflect on both 2010 -- some of the Freeper Lds threads that focused on calendars of the past:
* Great Moments in Mormon History [644 replies]
* A different take on the Carthage mob -- BYU Studies Symposium
* Setting the record straight on the 'Hawn's' Mill Massacre
* Early alcalde arrested by troops [Mormon history tidbit]
* Mormon Handcart Tragedy
Polygamous History:
* Text Of The Nauvoo Expositor That Got Joe And Hyrum Killed
* Unparralled Outrage at Nauvoo (Mormon - OPEN) [Yes, indeed, destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor -- due to its content exposing Joseph Smith as a polygamist -- is actually all wound up in "Polygamous History"]
* An Open Letter to the Vancouver Sun [see Zakeet's post #9]
By all means, add threads I've overlooked.
IBPD spam
And who has copyrights to the bible???
Funny we never hear anything about that...
nor about any charges of copyright infringement by the BOM author(s) from the bible.
I wonder what would happen if a coalition of bible publishers sued the current copyright holders of the bom for copyright infringement?
IBPD!!!
Thank you. I had no idea that the Book of Mormon was subject to copyright the same way that Scientology has copyrighted their ‘sacred’ texts.
Here’s the book I like:
Publisher - Public Domain
http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/King-James-Version-KJV-Bible/
IB4PD!
The different modern Bible translations CERTAINLY are copyrighted.
Most of this is for financial reasons...
The new ESV version irks me, as do almost all of the newer translations, only because there is so much money spent in the English-language world on Bible translation into English, where the various agencies translating for unreached people groups sorely need funding.
At the most, there should have been / could have been THREE modern English translations after the King James:
(1) A word-for-word (i.e the NASB) from the “best-possible” agglomerate manuscript.
(2) A word-for-word (i.e. the NKJV) from the “best-possible” Textus Receptus manuscript.
(3) A dynamic equivalent (i.e the NIV) from the “best-possible” agglomerate manuscript.
No more than these three translations.
Anything more is re-arranging the furniture, IMHO.
P.S. “The Message” should be burned at the stake. -— IMHO.
**And who has copyrights to the bible???**
These rights are held by the publishers of the various new translations..
In England the rights are invested in the CROWN (CUM PRIVELEGO).
In America there is no copyright on the KJV unless you change the type of print, font, or add notes.
This is why some cults often use the KJV as it has no copyright.
Sorry, new here. What does that mean?
“The copyright holder could also change the text at will, and the Mormons could do nothing to stop them.”
Funny, very funny.
There is a spammer here who is always posting Pro-Mormon web sites. If we hit the thread before him we all post “In before Paragon Defender (IB4PD).
So posting a near-daily anti-Mormon thread isn't spamming, but responding to it is?
Yet that same mormon 'god' ordered smith to sell the copyright in canada - then changed his/her mind and they came up empty handed.
IB4PD
Some KJV-only advocates point out that the KJV is not copyright protected and use that as evidence of it's superiority, since the newer translations are protected. Unfortunately for them, it's only evidence for its age. The KJV was originally property of the crown of England and was protected.
While God's word can't be copyrighted, if He didn't dictate directly to you or if you can't get a copy directly from Moses, the prophets, and the NT writers, and if you can't read Hebrew, Aramaic, or Koine Greek, then you are going to need have to use the services of translators. The copyright system is the method we use to ensure the translators are paid for their work.
In Before the PD Spammer (IBPDS!)
Well... THIS is nothing new!
HOW many DOCUMENTED changes to the BoM have there been?
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