[sword-devel] New/modern (copyrighted) bible translations

[Michael Johnson]

Hello, Tobias & all.

I would like to clear up a misconception about the Every Tribe Every Nation (ETEN) Digital Bible Library (DBL). Getting admitted as a library card holder does not give you access to any Bible translations you cannot access without such access. Read that again. Getting admitted as a library card holder does not give you access to any Bible translations you cannot access without such access. All it does is give you a channel to negotiate individually with all of the Intellectual Property Contributors (IPCs)
in the DBL, more or less like you would without the DBL. It does provide a more consistent platform for doing so than not having the DBL, and it does help encourage people to provide Scriptures in a common format (USX).

ALL of the Bible translations you can access by default as a DBL library card holder (LCH) are available at http://app.thedigitalbiblelibrary.org/entries/public_domain_entries?type=text
Note that periodically, I update my collection at eBible.org from that source, so that these Bible translations are available on the eBible.org sword repository as well as at https://eBible.org/find/. (My position as a DBL LCH isn't all in vain. I lobbied for that kind of access for you.)

There is another place were DBL Bible translations can be accessed for LIMITED use at https://scripture.api.bible/. This is where you can get free access to some modern copyrighted translations, provided you don't cache it very long, don't access it too often or with too many copies, and use it online only with their web bugs enabled.

For what it is worth, eBible.org as an organization is a DBL LCH. It doesn't help much. It does give me the ability to negotiate pay for Bible access, if I had money to do so. Honestly, if I had a significant amount of money to spend on Bible translation access, I would prefer to spend it on facilitating Bible translations where the translators and supporting organizations are committed to free/libre licensing of the resulting copyrighted texts. See https://www.unfoldingword.org/.

I am well aware that this does not address the preference majority language speakers may have for certain modern copyrighted proprietary Bible translations. The best solution for access to those is to figure out a way to pay for those. This is not unreasonable. One of my few contributions to the Sword Project code was the encryption code used for locked modules for sale. However, the current model for selling modules excludes the Crosswire Bible Society, which actually doesn't handle money. I could through
eBible.org, but I would need help with that.



On 3/10/19 1:38 AM, Tobias Klein wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Has there been any discussion on how to get newer/modern (copyrighted) bible translations into the "Sword ecosystem"?
> Users are of course more interested in modern/current translations than very old ones that do not reflect today's language anymore.
>
> Of course this may require some licensing/payment system, but that shouldn't be a too big impediment, huh?
>
> Do you guys know the digital bible library (http://thedigitalbiblelibrary.org).
> They provide access to all kinds of modern translations, but only to "Library Card Holders". I believe this is used by the "YouVersion Bible App" - which is extremely popular (but not open source ...). It's possible to "apply for a library card" for "qualified ministries". On their website it says: "Other organizations may apply for a library card through this website. Approved card holders gain access to the digital files through establishing license agreements with IP contributors."
>
> Maybe there are other possibilities besides this "digital bible library"?
>
> Best regards,
> Tobias
>
>
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