Copyright Policy

The following is our copyright policy concerning the use of any Living Stream Ministry materials on the Internet:

Living Stream Ministry's fundamental policy on making LSM-copyrighted content available on the Internet is simple:

All electronic LSM materials should reside on an LSM site. However, links to LSM sites and particular LSM web pages are greatly encouraged.

We currently make most of our publications available online at ministrybooks.org. A substantial number of them can be enjoyed online for free, and this provides an ample way for visitors to sample our publications. In addition, the rest of our online publications can be accessed for a reasonable subscription fee. These two provisions preclude the need for others to post LSM content on their own sites. If our website www.ministrybooks.org does not suit the particular needs of an individual, church, or organization, please contact us at webmaster@lsm.org. We will consider your request in light of other similar requests and based upon our available resources.

Nevertheless, we acknowledge that anyone may include scattered quotations of copyrighted materials on his or her web site as long as such quotation would be considered "fair use" according to the U.S Copyright Act. As it concerns the use of LSM materials, we interpret fair use as follows:

1. No website may publish a majority (more than 50%) of any complete work. A complete work is defined as any complete published entity. For example, any whole tract, booklet, chapter of a book, book, hymn, article, etc. would be considered a complete published entity.
2. Quoted LSM material may not constitute a majority of any page's content (i.e., more than 50% of any one web page).
3. Any quotation taken from LSM publications should be given a proper citation, including the author's name, the title of the work, the title of the source, the publisher, the place and date of publication, and the exact page number(s) or URL from which the quotation was taken. We realize that this can be a laborious task, but it is in keeping with the long-established norms for attributing quoted material to its proper source.

Finally, we do not allow the downloading of any LSM publication in electronic format, except when purchased from an authorized distributor or specifically authorized in writing by Living Stream Ministry. Furthermore, we do not allow the distribution of an LSM publication in electronic format except for those authorized by LSM to do so. This includes any purchased publication that has been converted for use on other platforms such as PDAs, etc. Downloading for so-called "personal use" is also prohibited.

Known Sites Violating Our Copyrights