A mormon propaganda machine in Korea insists that only the Utah-based Mormon church has the copyright of Book of Mormon (and thus other "Mormon churches" don't deserve to be called mormon church). In Korea where the public don't know much about the mormon church, the mormons try to distance themselves from FLDS whenever a polygamy issue is mentioned in the media by saying that those organizations are not mormons.

Can anyone who knows about the copyright history shed some light on this?

My understanding of USA copyright law is that the original BoM copyright expired long ago.

http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-duration.html#duration

turned down, except for limited use in some materials:

http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78161091

I'm sure if they could have, they'd copyright the BoM. I assume the copyright each version they approve instead.

like Dickens, Twain, ER Burroughs. It's all public domain stuff you can download on to your ipod.

Would this be why they keep updating the 'perfect' BOM?

Copyright 1974 by Spencer W. Kimball Trustee-in-Trust for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

They don't hold the copyright to the "Book of Mormon" but they do hold the copyright to "The Book of Mormon: Anothet Testament of Jesus Christ".The original BofM text is public domain but the format that each LDS splinter choses to publish thier particular version gets a copyright. They are two completely different books. They have different texts, different introductions, different indexes, different publishers, etc.

Its not like the BoM is on the NY Time's "Best Sellers" list or anything.

Timothy

What if the Seneca sued the LDS over it? Using the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. File that the writings belong to them, being from an artifact that by law would be theirs. Since the plates can't be produced, the writings from them should be returned under federal law. Then let the LDS concede that it is all made up.