05.00.3. Copyright Information
Copyright Information The following information comes from Dallas Theological Seminary, the copyright holder on "Major Bible Themes." From TAllen@dts.edu Wed Aug 24 18:57:11 2005 Subject: A HISTORY OF THE WORKS OF LEWIS SPERRY CHAFER ** High Priority ** Below is a listing of the WORKS of Lewis Sperry Chafer that are on file at DTS. SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY, ALL VOLUMES: Systematic Theology I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII, were originally copyrighted by Lewis Sperry Chafer, 3909 Swiss Avenue, Dallas, TX, and were registered in the Copyright Office of the United States on July 8 and 11, 1949. Dr. Chafer owned the above copyrights on the date of his death in 1952 at which time he transferred all copyrights owned by him, including the above copyrights to Dallas Theological Seminary, pursuant to his Last Will and Testament. The above copyrights were renewed in November of 1975 by Charles Fred Lincoln, Executor of the Estate of Lewis Sperry Chafer. This copyright will remain in effect for 67 years from the date of renewal, which will be the year 2042. We assigned our rights to Kregel Publications in April 1992, and permission for quotes must be obtained from them. They publish the WORKS and in turn pay the Seminary royalties. ("The AUTHOR [DTS] assigns to the PUBLISHER [KREGEL PUBLICATIONS a division of KREGEL, INC.], the exclusive rights to: a. print in all languages, publish and sell the WORK during the term of the copyright registrations and renewals thereof; b. continue the copyright of the WORK in the PUBLISHER’S name; c. broadcast over the radio, make mechanical renditions, videos and recordings, publish book club, Braille, electronic and microfilm editions, make translations and other versions, serialize before or after publications, syndicate, quote and otherwise utilize the WORK and any material based thereon or license others to do so; ...") Anyone wishing to obtain permission to quote, copy, or translate any part of these WORKS must contact the permissions department of Kregel Publications, P.O. Box 2607, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49501-2607, telephone (616) 451-4775, or fax (616) 459-6049.
OTHER WORKS: Grace, True Evangelism, Satan, and Salvation are in the public domain and published by Kregel. The original versions of He that is Spiritual and Major Bible Themes are in the public domain, but revised editions were copyrighted (He that is Spiritual in 1967 and Major Bible Themes in 1974) and are now being published by Zondervan. Permission to copy or use any part of the revised editions must go through Zondervan at 5300 Patterson SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49530. As far as I am able to determine, Dispensationalism, The Ephesian Letter, and The Kingdom and Prophecy are out of print. The Ephesian Letter was printed by Kregel in the past, but is not in print at this time. They are in the public domain. The only other work we have on file for Lewis Sperry Chafer is the STUDENT EVALUATION FORM, which was registered for copyright in February 1978, and is therefore still under copyright protection. If there are any WORKS that I have not found, or any new WORKS that might be published in the future, please be aware that DTS will still have the rights to these WORKS based on the wishes of Lewis Sperry Chafer as stated in his Last Will and Testament. " ... all copyright rights and all renewals and extensions of copyright rights to any book or books or other writing by me or in which I had participated, also the title to any book or books or writings owned by me at the time of my death, all royalties due or to become due me or my estate on account of the publishing and sale of any book or books written by me, or any other writing or writings, whether finished or unfinished, at the time of my death, ... to Dallas Theological Seminary, Texas; to have and to hold forever."
Please let me know if I can help further.Theresa Allen Executive & Legal Assistant Office of the Vice President for Business & Finance and General Counsel Dallas Theological Seminary 3909 Swiss Avenue Dallas, TX 75204 Telephone: (214) 841-3618 Fax: (214) 841-3642 Email: tallen@dts.edu
Clearly the original edition of "Major Bible Themes" is stipulated to be in the public domain. This eSword module is not the Walvoord revision of 1974, but rather the text of Chafer’s original work "Major Bible Themes." My thanks to Theresa Allen of DTS for claifying this very important issue. Thanks also to Grant Metcalf for keeping great records!