Translation rights for personal blog
Thread poster: colinjstevenson
colinjstevenson
colinjstevenson
Chile
Local time: 02:57
English to Spanish
+ ...
Apr 7, 2016

Hi everyone!

I've translated a few chapters of Mario Benedetti's "Primavera con una esquina rota", and I was wondering how to go about posting them on my personal blog. I have been researching the Proz forums and other websites and can't seem to find a straight answer when it comes to publishing without profit intent. I know that in general you've got to get publisher approval for this kind of thing, but I'm curious if there's a difference in the case I've described.

An
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Hi everyone!

I've translated a few chapters of Mario Benedetti's "Primavera con una esquina rota", and I was wondering how to go about posting them on my personal blog. I have been researching the Proz forums and other websites and can't seem to find a straight answer when it comes to publishing without profit intent. I know that in general you've got to get publisher approval for this kind of thing, but I'm curious if there's a difference in the case I've described.

Any assistance would be really helpful! Sorry in advance if this is the wrong forum area or if this was already addressed - I'm new, and did my best!

Cheers,
Colin
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Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 07:57
Danish to English
+ ...
You need permission Apr 8, 2016

You are not allowed to publish other people's work in original, edited or translated version, for profit or not, without their permission, except when the work is so old that the rights have expired.

 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 07:57
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Think about it this way Apr 8, 2016

Thomas T. Frost wrote:
You are not allowed to publish other people's work in original, edited or translated version, for profit or not, without their permission, except when the work is so old that the rights have expired.

Once posted on your blog, the text is in the public domain, accessible to any number of readers. Now, one of them may want to translate it into another language and sell that translation. You never know - they may even translate it back into the original language! Where would the author's rights stand then?


 
colinjstevenson
colinjstevenson
Chile
Local time: 02:57
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks! Apr 8, 2016

Hi Thomas, Sheila,

Thanks so much for your replies! I've contacted the publishing company.

I clicked "Reply", but I can't tell if this is just going to land in the thread and never been seen by either of you.

In any case, I appreciate the help!

Best,
Colin


 
Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 07:57
Danish to English
+ ...
Not sure what you want to say Apr 8, 2016

Sheila Wilson wrote:

Once posted on your blog, the text is in the public domain, accessible to any number of readers. Now, one of them may want to translate it into another language and sell that translation. You never know - they may even translate it back into the original language! Where would the author's rights stand then?


Your posts are usually clear, but I'm not sure I understand what you intend to say this time.

"Public domain" has a specific meaning in relation to copyright, and it certainly doesn't mean "accessible to any number of readers". When something is in the public domain, anybody may use it, but something simply being available to the public does not mean anybody may copy it.

Copyright automatically applies to anything one publishes.


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 07:57
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
@ Thomas Apr 8, 2016

Thomas T. Frost wrote:
"Public domain" has a specific meaning in relation to copyright, and it certainly doesn't mean "accessible to any number of readers". When something is in the public domain, anybody may use it, but something simply being available to the public does not mean anybody may copy it.

Copyright automatically applies to anything one publishes.

Sorry, I was using words carelessly. I meant that it becomes generally available to the public. As you say, that doesn't give readers any right to copy or otherwise use the text. But a lot of people nowadays think far less of taking a simple blog, editing it in some way and passing it off as their own, than they would of impinging on a published author's rights. I was just thinking of the blogger's position, between the two, suing one while being sued by the other. Not comfortable.


 
Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 07:57
Danish to English
+ ...
Stealing Apr 8, 2016

Sheila Wilson wrote:

But a lot of people nowadays think far less of taking a simple blog, editing it in some way and passing it off as their own, than they would of impinging on a published author's rights.


I know. I've often been after sites who had stolen articles and photos from my sites. It usually helps to report them to Google and their own web hosting companies for copyright infringement. The latter often take their sites completely offline until they've removed the offending content, so as to protect themselves against legal action.

They always had a bag full of bad excuses for having stolen my stuff, of course. "Couldn't I just have asked them nicely instead of reporting them?" Why should I? They didn't ask me before they stole my stuff.

In certain jurisdictions, it's not too difficult to take offenders to court and obtain compensation. I wouldn't hesitate to do that, so I wanted to warn our friend here against making the mistake of using others' stuff without permission.


 
Soonthon LUPKITARO(Ph.D.)
Soonthon LUPKITARO(Ph.D.)  Identity Verified
Thailand
Local time: 13:57
English to Thai
+ ...
Exceptions to copyright laws Aug 27, 2016

Thomas T. Frost wrote:

You are not allowed to publish other people's work in original, edited or translated version, for profit or not, without their permission, except when the work is so old that the rights have expired.


In many countries, permission can be omitted for "fair use" even the fair use definition may vary widely.
But your personal blog in question shall be fair to quote other's intellectual properties.

Soonthon L.


 
Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 07:57
Danish to English
+ ...
Blog? Aug 27, 2016

Soonthon LUPKITARO(Ph.D.) wrote:

In many countries, permission can be omitted for "fair use" even the fair use definition may vary widely.
But your personal blog in question shall be fair to quote other's intellectual properties.

Soonthon L.


Yes, you're allowed to quote a few snippets without permission, but in most jurisdictions, that's about it.

But this was about "chapters".

I don't have a blog, and I'm not really sure what you intend to say in your second sentence. Maybe you mean 'it would be reasonable to quote the source' in general. It may even be a requirement. That would apply to any media, not just blogs.

Apart from the legal issues, there is also the simple, old-fashioned concept of decent behaviour to consider: respect for the author/creator.


 


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