ok, so question for you. i read the kjv "only". does that disqualify my christianity and beliefs ? or, do the watered - down, copyright translations "qualify" me, as a christian ?
I love the KJV and have for many decades. With that said, any debate or argument rises or falls on its factual content. I love to research various topics and the “Not copyrighted” point in most KJV debates is always flouted.
I will post this bit of an article that surmises what I learned long ago. It’s not quite true.
The KJV And Royal Patents
When the KJV was printed, the United States' Constitution's "
copyright clause" did not yet exist.
Copyright Law wasn't a thing. But that doesn't mean that pre-cursory intellectual property rights didn't exist. The first edition of the KJV was printed with the Latin words, "
cum privilegio” or “with privilege” at the bottom of its title page for the New Testament (
Viewable here, or see the image on the left). This was the common practice to identify the royal "privilege" of printing. The Barkers as royal printers held the printing rights of the Crown or the "Privilege" of printing it, at least initially. And they had a financially beneficial monopoly on printing it. Alister McGrath explains,
"The English book trade was regulated by the Stationers' Company. As printing was permitted only at four centers—London, York, Oxford, and Cambridge—until 1695, regulation of the trade was not especially difficult. The printing of Bibles, however, was seen as a matter of particular importance, and was subject to additional regulations. Since the time of Henry VIII, Bibles printed within England by official sanction—such as Matthew's Bible, the Great Bible, and the Bishops' Bible—were subject to a trade monopoly. The monarch granted a “privilege” to favored subjects allowing them a monopoly on the production of certain types of Bible—an honor or favor usually indicated with the words cum privilegio on the title page of the Bible in question. The crown, in turn, received a proportion of the “royalty” paid to the holder of the privilege."