[sword-devel] New subscriber's first post (introduction & project proposal)

[jovanni]

David Haslam wrote:
> 
> Two public domain Japanese Bibles were available in OSIS format.
> I found them originally on the eSnips.com fileshare site, but they have
> since been removed from there.
> The two translations were for the Kaugo Bible and Bungo NT. I still have
> copies.
> 
> CrossWire has several Japanese Bible modules available in the beta repo.
> See 
> http://www.crosswire.org/wiki/Modules_in_the_beta_repository#Japanese_Bibles
> http://www.crosswire.org/wiki/Modules_in_the_beta_repository#Japanese_Bibles
> .

More recent(=error corrected) versions can be found at
http://bible.salterrae.net/sword/osis.html

Kougo Bible:
  http://bible.salterrae.net/sword/kougo-osis.xml.zip
Bungo Bible ( OT & NT )
  http://bible.salterrae.net/sword/bungo-noruby.osis.zip
  ( without ruby annotations )
  http://bible.salterrae.net/sword/bungo.osis.zip
  ( with ruby annotations )

> For general help in copyright lobbying, please visit 
> http://www.crosswire.org/wiki/Copyright
> http://www.crosswire.org/wiki/Copyright .
> 
> Copyright of Japanese Bibles is even more "messed up" than that of English
> Bibles. One of my contacts had been trying to persuade the company which
> publishes some of the Japanese Bible translations to license the Bible for
> download, but last time he checked, they were worried about people copying
> the file without paying for it.

Japan Bible Society claims the copyright of *current* copy of kougo
bible because they edited them at 1975,1984,2002. But the original
version of kougo bible published in 1954/1955 and bungo bible
( 1887/1917 ) are in the public domain now.

Here is an official answer from the JBS that says "the original copy
of kougo bible is free."

日ごろ聖書普及活動にご理解とご協力を賜り御礼申し上げます。
メールでのお問い合わせをありがとうございます。

口語訳聖書は、1954年に新約聖書、1955年に旧約聖書を発行いたしました。
著作権の保護期間は50年です。
1954年、1955年に発行したものは、保護期間50年が経過することになります。
ただし、現在発行しています聖書の著作権表示をご覧いただきますと、
1954,1955,1975,1984,2002
と表示しています。
1975年には「めくら」について読み替えました。
1984年には「おし、かたわ、気違い、こびと、せむし、つんぼ、びっこ、貧乏 
人、不具、
不具者」の10語を読み替えました。
2002年には「らい病」「らい病人」「患部」を読み替えました。
したがいまして、1954年、1955年発行の聖書本文をお使いになることは自由になりま
すが、それ以後のものは、それぞれ50年経過後に自由にお使いになることができま
す。
お使いの聖書は何年発行のものでしょうか。
ご確認ください。
ご不明な点がございましたら、ご連絡ください。
よろしくお願いしたします。

> 
> There is one free version: a translation of the English WEB New Testament
> into Japanese, but nobody in the Japanese church will have heard of it!
> It's the Denmo Bible - http://www.cozoh.org/denmo/
> The versions that the church actually uses are the Shinkayaku, the
> Shinkoudouyaku and the Kogoyaku. 
> 
> Written permissions from copyright holders should be sent to Troy Griffitts.
> copyright at crosswire.org
> 
> Even for works said to be PD, it is important that the evidence for this is
> clearly stated.
> cf. We have seen repeated claims that such and such a translation is PD,
> only for it to be contradicted by the evidence that later comes to light. 
> e.g. For Portuguese translations this has been an ongoing saga.

-- 
jovanni