The Bible of choice for conservative Christians is the KJV. No one should hold a copyright on God’s work.
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The KJV was also copyrighted at the time it was translated (it has since run out obviously.) The point being that the KJV springs from the same “copyrighted poisioned well” that the NIV springs from.
I do agree in principal though that it is preferable for a Bible translation to be in the public domain.
The problem with the KJV is that it was translated into the language of its day, but the English language has passed it by.
Did they have copyright laws back in King James’ days?
“The problem with the KJV is that it was translated into the language of its day, but the English language has passed it by.”
That’s the sales pitch of the modern translation pushers. Funny - people reading Shakespeare don’t have that problem. But the key is this: When you translate from a language like Greek to English, you have a choice of English words to settle on, with a range of different meamings. The King James translators were men of God, sold out to Christ. Most of the modern translators range from Liberals to unbelievers. For that reason, their translations tend be unbelieving and un-Christian. The King James Version is The Word Of God in English. The NIV is the word of man.
This is the heart and soull of the Bible translation discussion.