Thomas Thurman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Wed, 22 May 2002, Walter Landry wrote: > > Thomas Thurman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > A question I'm curious about: > > > > > > /usr/doc/bible-kjv/copyright and /usr/doc/bible-kjv-text/copyright say: > > > > > > : The copyright for the King James Version text of the Bible is expired > > > : since the translation was done in 1611 under King James the first of > > > : Great Britain. > > > > > > Do we have anyone who can confirm that this is correct within the UK and > > > generally within the Commonwealth? I've seen it claimed that the Crown > > > Copyright on the text is perpetual (e.g. at [1], and at least one > > > publisher of Bible software claims that they needed a licence to do > > > so: [2]). > [...] > > Reading some stuff on Eldred v. Reno, I cam across the following snippet > > > > Until the Statute of Anne (1710), copyright in England had been > > perpetual. Historians' Br. at 5-6. After the Statute of Anne > > limited the copyright term, publishers continued to insist that > > their common law copyright remained perpetual, the Statute of Anne > > notwithstanding. Not until 1774 was this question finally resolved > > against the publishers. Donaldson v. Beckett, 4 Burr. 2408, 98 > > Eng. Rep. 257 (H.L. 1774). > > > > at http://eon.law.harvard.edu/openlaw/eldredvashcroft/, p. 26 of the > > opening brief. So I don't think that we have to worry about Crown > > copyright. > > Doesn't that show only that copyrights in general are not perpetual? The > question at hand is whether Crown Copyright, and particularly the Crown > Copyright on the text of the KJV, is a special case (as has been claimed > elsewhere; see the references in the original email).
Well, the King James Bible came out before the Statute of Anne. The citation I gave seems to suggest that the Statute of Anne limited all copyrights. I don't have access to a law library, so I can't check the 1774 decision myself. The reference at cni-copyright probably didn't know about the 1774 decision. Regards, Walter Landry [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
