About
Copyright and fair dealing
An editorial note, not a legal opinion. We do not assume that any use is lawful simply because it is described here.
Whose material this is
Quotations from The Watchtower, Awake!, books, brochures, JW.org pages, videos and captions are the copyright of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania and its associated corporations. Court records, inquiry reports and government material are the property of their respective bodies and are usually open. News quotations are the copyright of the publishers named.
How we use it
- We quote only as much as is needed to establish what a publication said, and we link to the full text so that context can be checked.
- We prefer searchable text and official links over images. Where a scan of an out-of-print publication materially helps, we link to a lawfully hosted scan and record its provenance rather than rehosting it ourselves.
- We do not host, download, embed or alter official videos. Where JW.org permits linking, we link.
- We do not reproduce complete publications, complete articles, or complete chapters.
In the United Kingdom, quotation and criticism or review are recognised exceptions to copyright where the use is fair, the source is acknowledged and no more is taken than the purpose requires. Comparable doctrines exist elsewhere. We aim to stay well inside those limits, but we do not treat this note as making any particular use lawful.
Our own material
Original text on this site and the metadata in the evidence ledger (publication, date, page, links, confidence notes) may be reused under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence with a link to the page. The quotations inside the ledger remain the property of their publishers.
Rights holders
If you believe a quotation is longer than the purpose requires, or an image or scan should not be linked, email jwtruthorg@gmail.com with the page and passage. We will consider the request promptly and, where appropriate, shorten or remove the material and note the change on the corrections log.