Have some questions about copyright

br222 · March 7, 2021, 8:59am

Hi, i was wondering if i can use one or two sentences from the Bible and several (less than ten) sentences said by a person who lived in 18th century in my game without violating any copyright laws? Thanks

MDADigital · March 7, 2021, 9:37am

The orginal text is not copyrighted translations can be.

And about historical speeches
https://www.newmediarights.org/business_models/artist/are_historical_speeches_public_domain

br222 · March 7, 2021, 11:25am

really appreciate your help!
as for the first question, if i try to use an old version, for instance, the 1611 version, will i violate any copyright laws?

MDADigital · March 8, 2021, 1:25pm

Check the wiki it has a section about copyright

br222 · March 8, 2021, 1:51pm

Thanks!

neginfinity · March 8, 2021, 2:26pm

YOu should be able to use public domain text, and given that copyright lasts 75 years after author’s death AND those extensions are relatively recent, whatever is written in 18th century is likely in public domain. Copyright, however, would also apply to translations.

Additionally, short sentences may fall under fair use.

Basically, you should be able to find a public domain version of Bible and then include it into your game entirely.

br222 · March 8, 2021, 3:32pm

Thank you.

Joe-Censored · March 8, 2021, 9:18pm

The Bible brings up issues which don’t normally appear in a typical copyright discussion. For example the King James Version of the bible may run you into problems in the United Kingdom (see below).

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Copyright status
The Authorized Version is in the public domain in most of the world. However, in the United Kingdom, the right to print, publish and distribute it is a royal prerogative and the Crown licenses publishers to reproduce it 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 centuries, the earliest known reference coming in 1577. In the 18th century all surviving interests in the monopoly were bought out by John Baskett. The Baskett rights descended through a number of printers and, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Queen’s Printer is now Cambridge University Press, which inherited the right when they took over the firm of Eyre & Spottiswoode in 1990.[167]

Other royal charters of similar antiquity grant Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press the right to produce the Authorized Version independently of the Queen’s Printer. In Scotland the Authorized Version is published by Collins under licence from the Scottish Bible Board. The terms of the letters patent prohibit any other than the holders, or those authorized by the holders, from printing, publishing or importing the Authorized Version into the United Kingdom. The protection that the Authorized Version, and also the Book of Common Prayer, enjoy is the last remnant of the time when the Crown held a monopoly over all printing and publishing in the United Kingdom.[167] Almost all provisions granting copyright in perpetuity were abolished by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, but because the Authorized Version is protected by royal prerogative rather than copyright, it will remain protected, as specified in CDPA s171(1)(b).[j]

Permission
Cambridge University Press permits the reproduction of at most 500 verses for “liturgical and non-commercial educational use” if their prescribed acknowledgement is included, the quoted verses do not exceed 25% of the publication quoting them and do not include a complete Bible book.[168] For use beyond this, the Press is willing to consider permission requested on a case-by-case basis and in 2011 a spokesman said the Press generally does not charge a fee but tries to ensure that a reputable source text is used.[169][170]

br222 · March 9, 2021, 3:09am

Thanks very much for reminding me. So, though I’m not in UK, but in case if there’re someone in UK play my game, seems I’d better not to use the King James Version of the bible, for a game is apparently not “educational use”.

neginfinity · March 9, 2021, 7:39am

You can google “public domain bible”, and the first hit would be a Christian site that has 8 versions available.

There’s also “Project Gutenberg” which stores public domain works of literature, however I’d check their terms for caveats. It looks like you should able to use most of works of literature from there. For example:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/84/84-h/84-h.htm

br222 · March 10, 2021, 2:58am

Thank you, it’s very helpful!