Who owns the rights to the King James Bible?

Crown rights in the United Kingdom

Cambridge University Press states that rights in the Authorized Version of the Bible, the King James Bible, in the United Kingdom are “vested in the Crown and administered by the Crown’s patentee,” which is Cambridge itself. Put simply, the right to print the King James text in the UK belongs to the Crown, and a publisher looks after it on the Crown’s behalf.

This is not the kind of copyright that runs out. Under the UK’s Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, copyright in a literary work normally expires 70 years after the end of the year in which the author dies, and the King James translators finished their work in 1611. The Crown’s right rests instead on letters patent: eBible.org notes that the letters patent issued by King James have no expiration date, and the University of Glasgow describes the Crown’s right in the Authorized Version as perpetual.

The arrangements differ within the UK, so the sections below cover England, Wales and Northern Ireland first, then Scotland. For how the translation itself was made, and the difference between the 1611 and 1769 texts, see the King James Bible explained.

The King’s Printer: how Cambridge came to hold the office

Cambridge University Press traces its royal link to 1534, when letters patent from King Henry VIII gave the University of Cambridge the right to print “all manner of books.” That grant laid the foundations of the Press, and its chief executive still carries the title University Printer.

The office of Queen’s or King’s Printer is a separate role that came to Cambridge much later. According to Cambridge, the firm of Eyre & Spottiswoode became Queen’s Printer under Queen Victoria in 1845. In 1990 Cambridge University Press took over Eyre & Spottiswoode’s Bible publishing and, with it, the role of Queen’s Printer. Cambridge says the office makes it responsible for administering the Crown’s rights in the Authorized Version in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, controlling or licensing its publication on the Crown’s behalf.

Under King Charles III the title is King’s Printer. In its 2023 coronation coverage, the University of Cambridge said that Cambridge University Press & Assessment holds Royal Letters Patent as the King’s Printer.

Scotland has its own arrangement. In Scotland, the University of Glasgow’s library explains, the printing and publishing of the King James Bible is regulated by the Bible Board of Scotland, which Queen Victoria established in 1839 to stop unlicensed editions from circulating. We found no current page from the Board itself, so anyone planning to print the text in Scotland should check the present arrangements.

Oxford and the privileged presses

Cambridge is not the only press with an old right to print the King James text. Cambridge says that the Copyright Act of 1775 gave both Cambridge and Oxford University Press the right to print the Authorized Version and the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, which is why the two are known as the Privileged Presses.

Oxford’s own account begins in 1636, when Archbishop Laud, Chancellor of the University, obtained from Charles I the right to print all kinds of books. For a generation Oxford signed its right to print Bibles away to the Stationers’ Company of London. Its unbroken tradition of Bible printing began in 1675 under John Fell, the year Oxford University Press says it was granted the right to print the King James Version. In 2023 Oxford produced King Charles III’s Coronation Bible, set from its King James text.

eBible.org, which publishes free Bible texts online, names Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press and Collins as the publishers that currently hold the exclusive right to print the King James Version in the UK.

Quoting the KJV in the UK: what Cambridge allows

Cambridge University Press publishes guidelines for using the King James text in the UK without asking first. In summary, its rights and permissions page says:

• Up to 500 verses may be reproduced for liturgical and non-commercial educational use.
• The verses quoted must not make up a complete book of the Bible, nor 25 percent or more of the work in which they appear.
• An acknowledgement must be included naming the Authorized (King James) Version, the Crown’s rights and Cambridge University Press as the Crown’s patentee.
• In materials not offered for sale, such as church bulletins, orders of service, posters or presentations, the initials KJV at the end of the quotation are enough.
• Anything beyond these limits, including reproduction in commercial publications, needs written approval from Cambridge’s Permissions Department.

This is a summary of Cambridge’s published terms, not legal advice. The full wording, including the exact acknowledgement, is on Cambridge’s Bibles rights and permissions page.

Outside the UK, the King James Bible is public domain

The Crown’s rights are a British arrangement. Bible Gateway states plainly that the KJV is public domain in the United States, and eBible.org says the royal decree has no effect outside the UK, where the King James Version is in the public domain and may be copied freely.

So the answer depends on where you are. Anyone, anywhere, may read, memorize and quote the King James Bible. In the United States a church can print it in a bulletin, and a publisher can print a complete King James Bible, without asking anyone. In the UK, quotations for worship and teaching fall within Cambridge’s guidelines, but eBible.org notes that printing the King James Version in the United Kingdom, or importing printed copies into it, needs permission.

Buying a King James Bible in the UK

None of this makes the King James Bible hard to find in Britain. Cambridge, which took over Eyre & Spottiswoode’s Bible publishing, controls or licenses the publication of the Authorized Version in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Oxford University Press marked the 2023 coronation with an illustrated edition of the Authorized King James Bible, and eBible.org lists Collins among the publishers with UK printing rights.

Our King James books and readers in the UK

We are a small studio in Denmark that prints the New Testament with white text on black pages. Our King James editions print the standard 1769 King James text and are printed to order outside the UK.

We do not sell our King James editions to addresses in the United Kingdom, Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man. Readers there can order the same books in the World English Bible, a modern English translation based on the American Standard Version of 1901, which its publishers state is not copyrighted. To compare the two texts, see NIV vs KJV and the most accurate Bible translations.