Bible Modules for e-Sword
lasted checked for bad links on May 19, 2008

Preliminaries - The prime market in Christian book publishers is Bibles, and in order to "corner the market", book publishers must have a copyright over a translation or version. This has caused a lot of book publishing resources to be spent in producing new (not necessarily needed) Bible versions that can have a copyright on them. Because of this, we have an abundance of Bible versions. The primary problem here is that of copyright. This issue is a difficult one, because on the one side, if a company or individual has a copyright on a work (Bible version) then others cannot duplicate that work and put it out into the market. From that simple interpretation of the copyright situation, only older versions and translations out of copyright should be allowed in e-Sword modules.

But on the other hand, there is an interpretation of the law that says that once you purchase a book or literary work (in any format) that with that purchase, you also have the right to photocopy, rerecord it, or even burn digital copies of it. So if you own a legitimate copy of a Bible (like a hard bound paper copy), then you have the right to have it in other formats. the argument goes that if you go to a used book store and buy an old beat up hard copy of the NIV, then you have the right to own it in a digital format. Under this thinking, it is right or wrong on an individual basis, whether the person downloading already owns a paper copy or not. I would comment here that technically I think that is value, but the problem is not in owning it but in how you got it, i.e. somebody else put a copy up on the Internet where others can download it, which is probably illegal if the work is under copyright and no permission is given.

Hollywood and book publishing companies want that part of the copyright law changed so that just about every time you open a book you will have to pay (like paying even time you go to a movie theater or hear a song). We are not there yet, but that is where all things are headed.

It is my recommendation to be very careful about what you do in regard to Bibles (and other religious literary works). On the one hand, this links may disappear tomorrow as the law changes, so burn a disk copy of all you can get your hands on. On the other hand, there is the thought that what can you do with a stolen copy of a Bible that will really please God? Nothing. Everything is cursed that touches a stolen (illegal) resource. Another thought here is before the just Judge of all men, how can somebody "own" a Bible version to block others from using?

My position is the following. I only host what I think and believe to be free of copyright restrictions, but I will link to other sites that have works available. In the area of Bibles, I have a hard time believing that people can justly hold a copyright over God's word. Maybe legally, but justly no. I tend to interpret things that legally, we need to own paper copies, and that would allow us the right to own the work in a different format (digital). I am not a lawyer nor a police officer, and as such, some websites actually do get permission from the copyright owners to post Bibles on the Internet (Crosswalk.com for example). It is not my business to be the Internet Copyright Police, so until somebody squawks, I will post what I believe is free, and the rest I will link to. The linking is upheld in court cases as I understand it, as not being legally obligating on those who link to something.

Technically every e-Sword module is under copyright - I would also note that "technically" if we want to be nit-picky, the copyright law makes it such that an author has power over his work almost regardless of what he says to "put it into the public domain". Concerning that e-Sword has only been around for a few years, and since every single work that is a public domain or privately created content work, both are a "new" product in the e-Sword format, and everything made in e-Sword is under copyright starting when it was recomposed, so nothing is really out of copyright problems. When Zondervan publishing company takes a copy of Spurgeon's sermons and prints it, that particular package is under copyright although the actual content is not. So where do that leave us? It is best to not let any module "out into the wild" if you are not willing to grant copyright (usage by others). There is a consideration in all of this that we are in the ministry of helping people, and Christianity is given to us as a pay for what you use, but is based on grace (somebody else sacrifices or pays for your benefit).

Note: Some Bible Versions I have included here although I have no links to them yet. I am looking for them.