Hannah Hurnard Copyrights

Hannah Hurnard Books: Copyrights & Usage Guide

Thank you for your interest in the works of Hannah Hurnard, including the beloved Christian classic, Hinds’ Feet on High Places and its sequel, Mountains of Spices.


While CMJ USA serves the ministry in the United States, CMJ UK holds the official international copyrights to Hannah Hurnard’s literary estate.


Because we receive many inquiries regarding what is legally permissible under U.S. "Fair Use" laws versus what requires formal written permission, we have put together this guide to help you navigate your project.


What is "Fair Use" vs. What Requires Permission?

The table below outlines common requests we receive from churches, ministries, and individuals in the United States.

Activity Fair Use? (No Permission Needed) Requires CMJ UK Permission?
Quoting a few lines or a paragraph in a church bulletin, sermon, or personal blog post. Yes No
Reading a brief excerpt out loud during a live church service or small group. Yes No
Recording a full-chapter audio book or video study series to post on YouTube, Facebook, or a website. No Yes
Writing and staging a play, musical, or skit based on characters like Much-Afraid or The Shepherd. No Yes
Printing/Selling study guides that copy large chunks of text or outline the entire book structure. No Yes
Creating merchandise (t-shirts, artwork, journals) using extensive quotes or book branding. No Yes

Understanding U.S. Fair Use

In the United States, "Fair Use" typically protects brief, non-commercial excerpts used for the purposes of review, criticism, illustration, or teaching. However, creating a derivative work (such as a dramatic script, a recorded video series, or a full audiobook) explicitly requires the permission of the copyright holder, regardless of whether you plan to charge money for it.


How to Request Permission

If your project requires formal permission, it must be officially approved and logged by the legal team at CMJ UK. Because international requests take time to review, we highly recommend submitting your request at least 4 to 6 weeks before your project's planned start date.


To streamline the process, please use our International Copyright Request Form below. Your submission will be routed directly to the appropriate administrators in the UK.

CMJ UK Copyright Request Form

How did CMJ UK come to hold the Hurnard copyrights?

AI-generated sketch of Hannah Hurnard

Hannah Hurnard (1905–1990) was a 20th-century British Christian author and missionary whose spiritual journey has shaped millions of readers worldwide. 


Born in Colchester, England, to a devout Quaker family, Hannah spent her early life plagued by intense phobias, a debilitating stammer, and deep spiritual doubt. However, a radical conversion experience at the age of 19 completely transformed her life, replacing her anxieties with a "listening heart" and a profound sense of calling.  


In 1932, answering a call to missions, Hannah relocated to British Mandate Palestine (now Israel), beginning a remarkable 50-year ministry of service to both Jewish and Arab communities. It was during these five decades that her lifelong connection with the Church’s Ministry among Jewish People (CMJ) flourished.  


Hannah spent many years working as a housekeeper and volunteer at the CMJ-affiliated mission hospital in Haifa, and she was an eyewitness to the tumultuous birth of the State of Israel in 1948. During the intense siege of Jerusalem that year, she was one of only twelve Protestant missionaries who chose to remain in the Jewish Quarter to provide shelter, medical aid, food, and spiritual comfort to local believers—a harrowing and miraculous experience she detailed in her journal-turned-book, Watchman on the Walls.  


It was from her deep immersion in the landscapes of the Holy Land, coupled with her own personal victory over lifelong anxieties, that her masterpiece, Hinds’ Feet on High Places (1955), was born. Watching gazelles effortlessly skip up the steep, rocky slopes of the Judean hills inspired her allegory of Much-Afraid and the Chief Shepherd. 


Because of her decades of faithful partnership with CMJ in Israel, Hannah Hurnard ultimately entrusted her international literary estate and copyrights to CMJ UK, ensuring that the proceeds from her timeless classics would continue to support the ministry she loved for generations to come.