The Christian Science Board of Directors of The First Church of Christ, Scientist (the “Church”) is the copyright owner of an extensive archive of documents and other materials (the “Archive”) that includes Church records, historical collections and objects, as well as The Mary Baker Eddy Collection (the “Collection”)--approximately 500,000 pages of letters, manuscripts, diaries, notes in the margins of books, notes on scripture, collections of scrapbooks and other writings of Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer and founder of Christian Science, historical photographs and the personal library of Mary Baker Eddy.

Out of a desire to make the Collection available to the public, in 2000 the Church established The Mary Baker Eddy Library (the “Library”) for the purpose of preserving as well as publishing the documentary material related to the life, ideas, writings and legacy of Mary Baker Eddy. The Church transferred the physical Collection and the right to reproduce, distribute, perform and display publicly the contents of the Collection to The Mary Baker Eddy Library. The Mary Baker Eddy Collection administers the copyrights in the Collection on behalf of the Church.

This Site contains many sermons from The Mary Baker Eddy Collection. Although Mary Baker Eddy may have delivered these sermons to the public orally before 1923, according to US copyright law, such delivery alone did not constitute publication.

Everything Mary Baker Eddy wrote that was published before 1923 is now in the public domain under US copyright law and may be freely reproduced in part or in its entirety. Most of the manuscripts, sermons, and letters by Mary Baker Eddy included in The Mary Baker Eddy Collection were not published before 1923 and are still under copyright in the US. However, some excerpts of these materials may have been published under license of The Church prior to 2002. Please note that unauthorized reproductions do not constitute publication for purposes of calculating copyright terms in the US.

In 2002 The Mary Baker Eddy Library, under license of The Church published the manuscripts, sermons, letters, and photographs in The Mary Baker Eddy Collection, either in print editions or through an electronic database or other accessible method at The Mary Baker Eddy Library. Therefore, the copyright in most of the manuscripts, sermons, and letters by Mary Baker Eddy will last through the end of 2047.

Under some countries’ laws, the works authored by Mary Baker Eddy are in the public domain based on her date of death.

Quoting from Mary Baker Eddy

Under the “Fair Use” provisions of the U.S. Copyright Act, works protected by copyright may be quoted in other publications without permission provided that only a brief excerpt is quoted, and that the excerpt is reproduced for purposes such as criticism, comment, or education. No hard-and-fast rules can be given about what constitutes a “brief excerpt.” The Church respects “Fair Use” and other limitations on copyright but maintains the right to prevent infringement of its copyrighted material and to interpret “Fair Use” as it understands the law. To learn more about copyright, including “Fair Use,” see the US Copyright Office website at www.copyright.gov.

According to the author’s wishes and to moral rights laws in many countries, we request that you credit Mary Baker Eddy when quoting her works in any quantity, and not falsely attribute her name to material she did not author.

Permissions

You may view, download, or print the content found on mbepapers.org (“Content”) for your private, non-commercial use only. You may not sell, publish, distribute, or reproduce Content or parts of the Site without the express written permission of the copyright owners (including without limitation posting to websites or social media pages). You may not alter the Content or remove any trademark, copyright or other notices from copies of the Content. You acknowledge that you do not acquire any ownership rights in downloading or using the Content.

To request permission to reproduce copyrighted material from the collections, please contact:

The Mary Baker Eddy Collection

210 Massachusetts Avenue, P03-10

Boston, MA 02115

Phone (617) 450-3400

Email: permission@marybakereddycollections.org

For requests related to the Site or to reproduce The Library’s content, please contact:

The Mary Baker Eddy Library

200 Massachusetts Avenue, P02-10

Boston, MA 02115

Phone (617) 450-7206

Fax (617) 450-7048

Email: librarymail@mbelibrary.org

The complexities of publishing history and copyright law means that the copyright status of each individual sermon, historic photo, or other literary work on this Site must be ascertained before a decision can be made whether permission is required. Where the copyright status is uncertain or is public domain, we request being cited as the source of the material found on this Site.

Permission Fees: Licensing fees are charged for permission to reproduce copyrighted Content. Handling fees may be charged for processing copy requests. The time and resources it takes to bring these historical works online is costly. The revenue from licensing benefits The Mary Baker Eddy Library and its ability to support projects like The Mary Baker Eddy Papers.

Donations: If you would like to make a contribution to The Mary Baker Eddy Library to support projects like this one, please click here to visit the donations website of The First Church of Christ, Scientist.. Please note, you will receive a brief confirmation e-mail for all donations made online.