Writing & Publishing quoting Bible verses

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If I am making a science e book/coloring book with facts and information and also quoting one Bible verse per page, do I need to get permission?
 
No. However, you do need to place the copyright that is listed in the front of the Bible or Bibles you are using. Sounds like a great idea. ;)

Oh, and welcome to the site! ::D
 
Every Bible publisher has a webpage explaining what they require. NIV is the most particular, but all the copyrighted versions will have instructions on what is allowed without express permission. They also list the precise wording to include at the beginning that you will need to copy and paste on the credit page.
 
There are two forms of copyright notice for each. One is the notice that you use for the predominant translation used in your work. Quotes from that translation may omit the translation abbreviation.

The second form is for minority citations. If a quote is not from your principal translation, you must include the translation abbreviation in the citation.

Here is information on several commonly used translation:

www.blueletterbible.org

Bible Version Copyrights

Bible version/translation copyiright information.
www.blueletterbible.org www.blueletterbible.org
 
You might also wish to note that there are two different sets of standard abbreviations for Bible books: a General style, and a Scholarly style. The second set is much shorter, with no periods (presumably, scholars already know all the abbreviations well...) while the general set is longer, with periods, probably to help those who might not be familiar with all the book names.

Jus' thought you'd like to know...

EDIT: A quick Google search shows a chaotic cacophony of characters that folks seem to be jumbling together for their own abbreviation sets. Most actual publishers will likely want you to adhere to abbreviations per the Chicago Manual of Style or the Christian Writer's Manual of Style. If this is needed, they're in CMOS #10.47-10.50, and CWMS, p20. And the CMOS reference is for the current edition, soon-to-become-obsolete, after which its reference will probably change <sigh...> if you're gonna self-publish, this is probably not all that important, though...
 
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Chipping in late, but here's my two cents (I'm responding as a copyeditor with three years experience in Christian publishing).
  • You will need to include notice on the copyright page for each Bible version you quote (as @lynnmosher and @Celebrianne mentioned). If you use more than one version, then the nondominant version will need to be identified in the book.
  • It could be a good idea to keep track of the total number of verses you quote. As @Celebrianne mentioned, the copyright holders of the various Bible translations have different permission guidelines. Some say no permission is needed if you quote less than 500 verses (as long as those verses do not constitute an entire book of the Bible). Zondervan (the copyright holder of the NIV) also add that no permission is needed as long as the quoted material does not make up more than 25% of the work in which they are quoted.
  • Some of the Bible publishers require that a copy of the work quoting the translation be sent to them as well. You'll need to check that out.
  • Most copyright holders do not give permission for any but the latest version of the translation to be quoted. The latest version of the NIV, for example, is from 2011. Zondervan does not give permission for the translations prior to the 2011 update to be quoted.
  • It will be your responsibility to make sure that your quotation is accurate right down to punctuation marks and capitalization.
Hope this helps!
 
Wes B said:
You might also wish to note that there are two different sets of standard abbreviations for Bible books: a General style, and a Scholarly style. The second set is much shorter, with no periods (presumably, scholars already know all the abbreviations well...) while the general set is longer, with periods, probably to help those who might not be familiar with all the book names.

Jus' thought you'd like to know...

EDIT: A quick Google search shows a chaotic cacophony of characters that folks seem to be jumbling together for their own abbreviation sets. Most actual publishers will likely want you to adhere to abbreviations per the Chicago Manual of Style or the Christian Writer's Manual of Style.
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Accurate. Thanks for mentioning this, @Wes B .

CWMS lists three ways of abbreviating books of the Bible: the general and SBL styles (mentioned by Wes) and one that is called "NIV style" (it's similar to SBL style but does have some differences). A publisher might have a preference regarding which abbreviation style to follow or whether to spell out the books of the Bible (Our Daily Bread is one publisher who spells out the books of the Bible in full). Some publishers go with the author's preference. Self-publishers get to choose which style to follow.

No matter what, consistency is the important thing. If you're going to spell out the books of the Bible in full, do it for all the references. If you're going to go with SBL style, do it for all. If you're going to go with the general style, do it for all.
 
{scratching head} Claire, what is SBL? I don't see that Wes mentioned it. :rolleyes:
 
VeroM. said:
If I am making a science e book/coloring book with facts and information and also quoting one Bible verse per page, do I need to get permission?
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Thanks for asking this question!
I've never thought of this before and never realized that some Bibles require their copyright written down somewhere, and some don't— though it makes logical sense.
 
Planted Pea, I believe all Bible versions require a copyright notice at the front of your book or work. Very few will require permission to quote. But you must post the copyright that appears in the front of each Bible (or on websites).
 
lynnmosher said:
{scratching head} Claire, what is SBL? I don't see that Wes mentioned it. :rolleyes:
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Lynn, I'm so sorry for the confusion. Sometimes I forget to not use the jargon that goes with the publishing industry. *facepalms*

SBL is the style created by the Society of Biblical Literature and is used mostly in academic theological publishing (Wes mentioned the scholarly style—that's SBL). It isn't followed by most general Christian publishers, but I have worked on manuscripts where the SBL style was followed for Bible references.
 
...and, then there's me, who writes in his own style and thumbs his nose at the establishment. (just kidding).
Frankly, I do however take the 'couldn't care less' approach and just format Blue Letter Bible to export a verse or passage in the style of verse and reference with no verse markers or notations for footnotes, verse (Jhn 3:16 NKJV) and a note on the copyright page that is exactly what is stipulated either on their website or on BibleGateway. Since I usually use multiple versions, I opt for the copyright text that reflects that.

Since a lot of my devotionals have the verse reference at the top in italics, I usually paste text only, so the italic notation usually is lost. Publishers have taken to putting square brackets around words inserted for readability anyway.

Since I self-publish and don't see sales in the thousands, I expect it's really a moot point anyway. And I've made so little profit it's not like it would be worth anyone's time to make a stink about it.
 
Except for the KJV, most Bibles require permission to quote from them. I have attached a resource that lists the wording for permission from several translations. I trust you will find it useful, Vera. :)
 

Attachments

Well, yes and no. Most say you can use like 500 verses without permission as long as you have the copyright notice in the front of your book. Paul Chernoch had a great Excel sheet with everything listed but I can't seem to find it. If you'd like to have it, I'll post it.
 
lynnmosher said:
Well, yes and no. Most say you can use like 500 verses without permission as long as you have the copyright notice in the front of your book. Paul Chernoch had a great Excel sheet with everything listed but I can't seem to find it. If you'd like to have it, I'll post it.
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Hello, replying late. Yes, if you have the excel spreadsheet, could you send it it for me?
 
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