CCBT Practicum – Copyright and Trademark

Facilitator Guide

Duration: 90 minutes

Focus of Session: Most readers of the Bible are unaware that the version they are reading is protected by copyright. If you ask them what this means, they are unlikely to have a good answer (unless they are copyright or patent attorneys). This session will alert attendees to the nature of copyright and what its implications are for them as Bible translators.

Method: Socratic method using open discussion and breakout groups.

Introduction

Use this time to set the tone for this session by asking questions and prompting student activity. While this session will contain a lot of information, much of it new to participants, it is important that they discover this information for themselves. Your goal as facilitator is to prepare them to investigate issues associated with copyright and what that means for the work they are going to do.

Have them open their Bibles to the Copyright page of the Bible and read the information there.

Ask the following questions of the class and allow time for open discussion:

• What is the copyright date in your Bible?
• Who owns the copyright to your Bible?
• What rights are held by the copyright owner of your Bible? (“All rights reserved” is common)
• What does that mean? (If they are not sure, let them know that they will by the end of class)
• Does your Bible have a Permissions Notice? If so, what permissions do you have?
• How do you feel knowing that your Bible is copyrighted? Do you think this is right? Why or why not?

Biblical Foundation

Objective: Participants will establish a biblical worldview for translating the Bible.

Have them read 1 Corinthians 9:9-14

Ask:

• What is this verse talking about?