These tips contain opinions about copyright considered relevant for literary translators. They do not replace the advice of a lawyer.
Contracts for translation vary according to the publisher and country of origin of the work being translated. If you have information regarding specific copyright issues, please send these tips to the webmaster of the Literary Division.
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
The ATA GUIDE TO A TRANSLATION SERVICES AGREEMENT provided in the American Translators Association’s main website (http://www.atanet.org/business_practices/translation_agreement_guide.pdf) is general in nature. Furthermore, because it was designed for technical/commercial translation, it does not necessarily apply to literary translation. ATA is currently looking into developing a version designed specifically for literary translation. While it is under development, we recommend the model contract drafted by PEN, available at http://www.pen.org/model-contract.
Suggested Reading
Information for U.S. copyright translations may be found in Clifford Landers’ Literary Translation: A Practical Guide, Topics in Translation #22, Multilingual Matters, December 2001.
U.S. Copyright Office – Copyright Registration for Derivative Works
Neither the ATA nor the Literary Division, their officers, agents, contractors or employees are responsible for the opinions and data set forth in the links.
If you become aware of a link you’d like to share, please forward it to the webmaster at salvador@techtranslation.org.
Copyright
- Arts Law Centre of Australia
Arts Law is sometimes contacted for advice about the copyright issues involved in making and commissioning foreign language translations of literary works. For example:
the translator of an article contacted us for advice about how the author of the original article could use his translation.
a playwright, who was commissioning someone to translate her play into another language, called to find out what issues she should consider.
a visual artist intending to translate some songs into another language for use in conjunction with a multi-media artwork wanted to know what kind of permission he needed.
- Copyright Explained: I May Copy It, Right?
From the legal point of view, Copyright in Web is often considered as the grey area; as such it’s often misunderstood and violated – mostly simply because bloggers don’t know, what laws they have to abide and what issues they have to consider. In fact, copyright myths are common, as well as numerous copyright debates in the Web.
- Intellectual Property: Is it illegal to translate a book and post the translation online?
Say I've read a very good English book, and I know there's no Chinese translation. I decided I want to translate this into Chinese and post it on my own blog (credit the original writer of course). I'll not publish or sell my translation, and my blog will not run ads or gain profit of any kind.
- Online Translation - Dealing with Copyright and Plagiarism Issues Part I - Idiot's Guide to Online Copyright Issues
Copyright infringement and plagiarism existed long before the internet became a household name. However, with the internet quickly finding its way into people's homes, and a little help from the ever-developing technology, more and more people are able to easily make their own website/blog.
- Sharing copyright material online not a simple case of David versus Goliath
Researchers “sharing” copyright material online like to paint themselves as Davids fighting the mighty Goliath of academic publishing. Last month, a post since removed from the fundraising site gofundme.com, said Dockray was being sued by "certain malefactors of great wealth," which to anyone who knows much about Canadian publishing is a hilarious misrepresentation.
