Permissions Guidance

 

Quoting from the NIV Bible

 

Thank you for your interest in using the NIV – the world’s most popular Bible translation in modern English.

 

As the UK publisher for the New International Version, we love to see the NIV used by churches and other organisations in many different ways. Our aim is to enable the widest possible use of the NIV text by all and our generous free allowance is designed to make this as easy and accessible as possible.

 

Please find below our guidance notes for churches and other organisations including publishers, charities, theological colleges, schools and anyone else who would like to quote the New International Version.

 

  1. 1. Using the NIV in church services or resources

For use in churches, including bulletins, orders of service, posters, transparencies or similar media, including video, PowerPoint and other onscreen use:

 

  • – Use of the NIV Bible is free for these purposes
  • – Please put ‘(NIV)’ at the end of each quotation

 

  1. 2. Using the NIV in published media (e.g. books, eBooks, magazines, websites, cards, artwork)

 

  1. a) Are you quoting fewer than 500 verses and less than one whole book of the Bible?

Up to five hundred (500) verses may be quoted for commercial or non-commercial use in any form (written, visual, or electronic), without express written permission from Hodder.

 

Please use the following notice of copyright on the title or copyright page of the work:

 

Scripture quotations [marked NIV] taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica UK trademark number 1448790.

 

Please note: if the verses quoted amount to a complete book of the Bible or account for 25 per cent or more of the total text of the work in which they are quoted (based on word count), please contact us for permission as there may be a fee for this type of use.

 

  1. b) Are you quoting or reproducing more than 500 verses or one or more whole books of the Bible. Does the Bible text account for 25% or more of the total text of your work?

Please contact us for written permission using the contact details below. There may be a fee for this type of use.

 

  1. 3. Using the NIV in a published commentary and other biblical reference works

Please write to us to obtain written permission for works of this kind produced for commercial sale.

 

Contact details

Hodder & Stoughton are the publishers of the NIV in the UK, EU and EFTA

 

Postal address

Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, Carmelite House, 50 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0DY.

 

Online

Our permissions process is handled by PLS Clear. Please visit https://www.plsclear.com/ and search for the ISBN of the Bible edition you wish to quote and follow PLS’s instructions. If you want to quote from the NIV Bible in general, rather than seek permission for material from a specific edition, please search for and select ISBN 9781444701500.

 

USA & Canada

 

Postal address

Zondervan Publishing House, 3900 Sparks Drive SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546, USA.

 

Online

Please see details for how to request permission at http://www.harpercollinschristian.com/permissions/

 

Rest of the World

 

Postal address

Biblica, 1820 Jet Stream Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80921-3696, USA.

 

Online

www.biblica.com

 

CASE STUDIES

 

I am printing a Bible study for my youth group and I quote passages from the NIV

 

This kind of use of the NIV is granted under the free allowance. All you need to do is put ‘(NIV)’ at the end of each quotation. See section 1 above.

 

I am making cards to sell which have an NIV Bible verse on the front or inside

 

Assuming the Bible verse will make up more than 25% of the total text of your work, please contact us for written permission. There may be a fee for this type of use. See section 2b above.

 

I want to print a bespoke Gospel to give to every household in my town

 

As you will be reproducing one whole book of the Bible, you will need to contact us for permission. See section 2b above. Alternatively, our partners Bible Society and Good Book Company provide custom Gospel and other Scripture portion products, depending on quantities and your specific requirements.

 

Bible Society

https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/products/custom-scripture-on-demand/

 

The Good Book Company

https://www.thegoodbook.co.uk/customised-gospels

 

I want to set the text of an NIV Bible passage to music to release for sale

 

Please email us with full details of the publication and the passage you wish to use. There may be a fee for this type of use. See section 2 above.

 

I want to record audio / video of the NIV and play it in my church service or on my website

 

If you are preparing audio or video recordings for use in a church service or recording/livestreaming your service which includes audio or on-screen Bible readings, these uses are covered by the usage allowance outlined above in section 1.

If you are creating audio or video material based on the NIV for other uses then you will need to contact us for permission if your usage falls outside the free allowance criteria outlined in section 2 above – for example, if you want to create a website or Youtube channel focused on Bible readings from the NIV. There may be a fee for this type of use.

 

I have written a book in which I quote the NIV

 

When 500 verses or fewer are quoted in published books, all you need to do is make sure the copyright notice listed above in Section 2a is included on the imprint page of your work. If the work is a biblical commentary or reference work, please contact us for special permission.

 

I am developing Bible software or an app – can I license the NIV to use in it?

 

The NIV Bible is already available via a number of websites and mobile apps but we are always keen to enable new and innovative ways to read the Bible, so do get in touch so we can explore how this might work.