Legal Permissions

Permission to Use Copyrighted Material

“Copyrighted Material” as used here means any content owned and published by Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) that is protected by the U.S. Copyright Act and international copyright laws. Except where otherwise noted, all BGEA works, including written materials, artwork, graphics, photographs, sound recordings, and video, as well as anything on our website, are Copyrighted Material, and their use requires BGEA’s written and specific permission, unless expressly permitted under the General Permission guidelines provided below.  If your use falls within the General Permission guidelines, however, it is not necessary for you to contact us to request specific permission.  If your use does not fall within the General Permission guidelines, then you will need to request BGEA’s permission by completing and submitting the Permission Request Form provided at the end of this document.

General Permission

“General Permission” means that BGEA grants you nonexclusive permission to use its Copyrighted Material as outlined below without the need for our specific permission. Please note, however, that BGEA reserves all rights, including without limitation, the right to modify or withdraw this General Permission, for any reason and without advance notice.

First, what is NOT covered by General Permission (and therefore needs BGEA’s specific and advance permission in writing):

      • Any content from Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, Will Graham, or any other author’s published works where the copyright is in the author’s name, not BGEA’s, and the work is not published by BGEA.
      • Translating Copyrighted Material, except for Steps to Peace With God text.
      • Any photos/images, audio, or video.
      • Any commercial use, especially where there will be sales for profit.
      • Any fund-raising, marketing, or endorsement of a person, ministry, or product.
      • Any BGEA trademark (see below).
      • Reproducing/posting Copyrighted Material posted on our websites on your website. Provide link instead using Linking guidelines below.

What IS covered by General Permission:

Personal use – Viewing, listening to, quoting, and printing Copyrighted Material from this website and BGEA’s publications, for your personal use. “Personal use” does not include making multiple copies for distribution to others or the sale of our Copyrighted Material.

Reprinting/copying for noncommercial, nonprofit use – To encourage use of its Copyrighted Material in evangelistic ministry beyond personal use, BGEA produces copies that are readily available, either at no charge as part of a BGEA program (such as MY HOPE) or for purchase through our online bookstore, RUTH’S ATTIC. However, where copies are not available for purchase from BGEA, General Permission grants you nonexclusive permission to reproduce and distribute up to 1,000 copies of its written (text-based) Copyrighted Material for noncommercial, educational, or evangelistic uses (such as church bulletins, newsletters, etc.), IF the Copyrighted Material and the proposed use meet ALL the following criteria:

      • The Copyrighted Material is text-based only (no photos or audio/visuals) and reproduced in its entirety, without modifications, deletions or additions.
      • The Copyrighted Material only has a © BGEA notation at the end of the content and does not have a copyright notice cited to another ministry or author.
      • The Copyrighted Material is not used for fund-raising or to imply endorsement of a product, ministry, etc., by Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, Will Graham, or BGEA.
      • The Copyrighted Material is not sold or distributed in exchange for money beyond the actual cost of reproduction.
      • The reprinted/copied Copyrighted Material contains an appropriate attribution to BGEA, such as: “©2016 Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Used with permission. All rights reserved.”
      • The Copyrighted Material will not be translated into another language.

Use of quotes in publications – General Permission allows you to use quotes from our written (text-based) Copyrighted Material in your publication, such as a book or other literary work, if ALL the following conditions are met:

      • Your publication, and purpose of your publication, is primarily evangelistic, representing Christian beliefs that are consistent with BGEA’s Statement of Faith.
      • Your publication will be published in English only, not other languages.
      • The quote is from content with a clear BGEA copyright (as noted at the bottom of the Copyrighted Material), and is not from a book by Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, Will Graham, or any other author published by a non-BGEA publisher (such as Thomas Nelson, HarperCollins, etc.).  If it is not clearly noted on the Copyrighted Material, or you are in doubt, do not proceed without specific permission from BGEA.
      • The combined quoted material (whether one quote or several) is not more than 500 characters in total and will be a small percentage (less than 1%) of your publication.
      • Each quote is used as it is written, without modifications, deletions or additions.
      • Each quote is used in a way that does not express or imply endorsement or support by Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, Will Graham, or BGEA.
      • The quote/excerpt is attributed to BGEA with an appropriate copyright notice relating to the original work, such as: “©2016 Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Used with permission. All rights reserved.”

Reprinting/copying “Steps to Peace With God” (STPWG)

STPWG is available for purchase from our online bookstore, Ruth’s Attic. You may also link to BGEA’s online version of STPWG on our website https://peacewithgod.net if you comply with the Linking conditions described below.  You are also permitted to reproduce, distribute, modify, translate, etc. the text of any of BGEA’s printed versions of STPWG and use it alone in your publication or create your own tract with your own graphics. However, the graphics used in BGEA’s versions of STPWG require specific written permission and are not covered by General Permission.

Linking

You are welcome to create a link to any of our websites from yours provided the link clearly indicates that it leads to a BGEA website, opens in a new window, and is not used either to promote a non-BGEA service, product, or event, or as an endorsement by BGEA.

A general link to our website should use our full name, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, directing people to our home page (http://www.billygraham.org), and should appear like this:

<a href=”http://www.billygraham.org”>Billy Graham Evangelistic Association</a>

If you wish to include a description of our ministry with your link, please use BGEA’s Mission Statement below:

“Continuing the lifelong work of Billy Graham, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association exists to support and extend the evangelistic calling and ministry of Franklin Graham by proclaiming the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to all we can by every effective means available to us and by equipping the church and others to do the same.”

Public Showing of World Wide Pictures Films

Churches, nonprofit ministries, educational institutions, and correctional facilities who do not already have a license with Christian Video Licensing International (CVLI) (www.cvli.org; 1-888-771-2854), may publicly show our World Wide Pictures films listed here, http://billygraham.org/tv-and-radio/worldwide-pictures/, without requesting specific permission from BGEA, provided ALL of the following criteria are met:

    • No admission fee is charged and no fund-raising takes place at the showing.
    • No copies of the film are made or offered for distribution or sale.
    • The showing is not held in a theater.
    • The showing is for one time only, not multiple times.
    • There are less than 250 people expected to attend the showing.

If your use does not meet the above criteria, or if you would like to use our films or content from our films in any other way, you must request specific written permission from BGEA using the Permission Request Form below.

Trademarks

BGEA holds U.S. and international trademark rights in several marks, including without limitation, BILLY GRAHAM, FRANKLIN GRAHAM, WILL GRAHAM, MY HOPE, DECISION, DECISION AMERICA, and RUTH’S ATTIC, as well as logos and other elements associated with its ministry activities. Collectively, BGEA’s registered and unregistered trademarks are referred to as the “BGEA Trademarks”. All rights in the BGEA Trademarks are reserved, and the BGEA Trademarks may not be used except as expressly authorized by BGEA. Use of the BGEA Trademarks to promote any commercial purpose and/or to raise funds for any non-profit other than BGEA and its affiliated entities is strictly prohibited.

To Request Permission

Requests for permission must be submitted using the Permission Request Form.