Am I allowed to scrap the scriptures for use in a program?

Greetings!

What are the rules for web scraping of scriptures from lds.org? Looking at the source, it appears to be very high quality, and that the person creating had machine readable in mind.

• Can I scrape it for personal use? (Analyze footnote structure with markov chains (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markov_chain) and maybe other techniques (I'm curious which scriptures the footnotes link to each other, and what insight that can give me.))
• Can I provide an application to allow others to scrape it easier (but not host the scriptures myself)? (A scripture downloading software library that parses it into even more machine readable format (for example, a software writer could request {book:"1 Nephi", chapter : "3", verse "7"}, and get back a verse.)
• Can I scrape it for nonpersonal use (like providing a web app for exploration of the footnote structure)?
• If the answer to any of the above is no, can I ask someone for additional permissions?

Information on usage rights is found in the Rights and Use Information link at the bottom of most lds.org pages. That page also has contact information for the Intellectual Property Office which is responsible for questions and requests regarding church copyrighted material.

@kingc12 any update in this venture?

Raw index or cross-reference information, being distinct from the more "creative" formatting of that data, is generally not copyrightable, so there shouldn't be legal issues from analyzing the data, following links, building maps, etc. However, as a good citizen you will want to avoid slamming the Church servers with hundreds of HTTP requests in a short time period.

The actual content, on the other hand, is under copyright (especially the study helps and formatted footnotes), so you would need to get permission (see the link above) before posting it online or distributing it.