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First snag leads to good possibilities

Posted by Brian D on September 11, 2010 at 12:55pm in GENERALMISC

Well, my project, "King of Kings: The Chronicles of Jesus" has hit a major roadblock. As it turns out, legally I can't publish it without having a licensing agreement from those who "own" the NIV translation. Since I'm an indepedent publisher with no distributor, it's doubtful they will grant me such permission. Apparently, I CAN use the KJV, but since I'm gearing this for kids, that seems sort of counter productive.

 

But the good news, is that I'm developing a relationship with a christian publisher who is considering hiring me to help with art projects at his company. If it all goes through, I stand to make TWICE my current salary at my current day job.

 

Prayers for guidance through all these things is greatly appreciated.

 

Yours in Christ,

Brian

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  • Bob Luedke October 2, 2010 at 7:49am
    I see you've gotten a lot of good advise here, especially from Kevin and Buzz.

    I'll share my two cents here, since I too did an adaptation of the Bible as part of Eye Witness. First of all...wow, this issue did not even occur to me, nor was it ever brought up by anybody who was consulting with me on putting EW together. But the good new is (and this may be helpful to you) though I too relied on NIV, I also consulted "the Message Bible", "The Book" and a few others...and then went one step further and where needed made the text (and/or dialog) more conversational.

    Now like Buzz referenced, in my first book (A fictional Tale of Absolute Truth) my presentation of the Passion story is supposed to be a fictional "Gospel of Joseph of Arimathea", so I could take liberties...but that being said it was still based on a mashup of the Bible accounts of the Gospels.

    So I would guess the bottom line for you is, if you are doing a line for line graphic novel adaptation of the Bible in your presentation, then you've either got to sucure the proper rights (or like Kevin says) find a translation that doesn't require that. But on the other hand if your story is "Bible based fiction", then I would just follow Buzz's advise and just use the NIV as a guide and then craft the dialog and narration in your words (without changing the thurst or message of the passages...which can be done).

    And one final thought...in regards to adding or subtracting to the Bible goes. As I just wrote, I think the key is keeping the message and structure of the books you are adapting intact. I do not see any issue with doing your own translation to fit your story style. After all, most modern versions we have of the Bible are translations in one form or the other. In the words of Walter Sobcheck, "Am I wrong"?

    bob-
    www.headpress.info
  • Kevin Yong October 1, 2010 at 5:27pm
    The ESV and NASB are both under copyright (as is the New King James) but they may have different policies than the NIV. (You might be able to check online at places like http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/ to compare information on the different translations, or at least find info on the different publishers.)

    There are other Public Domain translations out there besides the King James Version. For example, there's the 1901 American Standard Version... and the text from that is being updated to create an online "World English Bible" at http://www.ebible.org/ that is explicitly copyright-free. Maybe that can help?
  • Brian D September 27, 2010 at 4:45pm
    I will have to look into them. Are you saying they aren't copyright protected? That's another concern (Man, I hope I'm not starting to sound like a whiner!) I only discovered the copyright issue after speaking with a publisher. I tried locating the "owner" but was only successful after a follow up call where I was directed to the right person. Otherwise, I would have assumed it was okay had I based it on my initial search.

    N8B (Nathan Bowen) said:
    I think the ESV or the NASB should work. Check them out.
  • Christopher Haupt September 27, 2010 at 4:25pm
    That's exciting.
  • Brian D September 27, 2010 at 6:33am
    I agree that there is probably some leniency with fiction. I think from a fictional standpoint, I would just make sure that nothing spoke AGAINST Christ or the Holy Spirit which the Bible clearly states as an unforgivable sin. In my case I have mixed feelings regarding the copyright issue. Part me understands paying for "services rendered" in terms of the translation. But at the same time, would Paul or any of the disciples required "payment" to pass on the Word of God? I sort of feel that this need to PAY for its use is a gross misappropriation and a hinderance to spreading God's message. Even if money wasn't the issue, I'm still not guaranteed approval or consent and where does that leave anyone who might be transformed by my book? Not to be rude, but lumping the Gospel in with other "works" of literature seems a tad disgraceful to me. Suppose (and to a degree I could be reaching here) I was unsaved and this graphic novel would have changed that. Is my salvation lost because of a royalty fee? Sorry, it's just a bad taste in my mouth.

    Jolyon Stebbing said:
    Ooh, minefield issue! I was talking to Tim Gagnon about a comic's idea I had because it's quite close to his "Redemption: Armoured Saint" and I mentioned that I wanted a sect of Roman Catholic Priests guarding an unknown part of the Bible prophesying the appearance of a Holy Herald. He told me about htis part of not adding to or diminishing the Bible and he pointed out a similar phrase in Revelation 22: 18-19.
    Not sure how paraphrasing comes into that. You have to tackle every book, chapter and verse with God in your heart and be certain that what you are saying is what God is saying.
  • Jolyon Stebbing September 27, 2010 at 4:50am
    Ooh, minefield issue! I was talking to Tim Gagnon about a comic's idea I had because it's quite close to his "Redemption: Armoured Saint" and I mentioned that I wanted a sect of Roman Catholic Priests guarding an unknown part of the Bible prophesying the appearance of a Holy Herald. He told me about htis part of not adding to or diminishing the Bible and he pointed out a similar phrase in Revelation 22: 18-19.
    Not sure how paraphrasing comes into that. You have to tackle every book, chapter and verse with God in your heart and be certain that what you are saying is what God is saying.
  • Lee Weeks September 11, 2010 at 2:37pm
    Hey Brian,

    Here's one of the places in the bible where it says not to add or take away:

    Deu 4:2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish [ought] from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

    Notice what book it's in, and remember how many books of the bible were written after Deuteronomy. I think it sheds light on the command.

    Your concern for the purity of the Word is awesome, as we need be prayerful and careful when handling God's Word, but I also don't believe God would want you held back by a man-owned copyright of a modern translation that isn't without its own problems. Go as the Lord leads and your conscience allows.

    And however you are led to proceed, you can include an explanation of just what you've done so there's no confusion to the reader.

    My thoughts.

    God bless--

    Lee
  • Brian D September 11, 2010 at 1:56pm
    I considered this, but I get freaked out about it. I thought it said somewhere in the Bible NOT to add or subtract from the scriptures? Am I crossing a line here if I do?

    Buzz Dixon said:
    You can always paraphrase it on your own; take several translations & re-work each verse so that you say the same thing but w/o using the exact same words as any of the various translations.
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