quote:
Originally posted by geoschmo:
Ok, now we are getting into an area that I am not familier with. Are translations copyrightable? Common sense tells me no. If so, how could you have a copyright at all? I write a book, someone translates it into German. If you can copyright a translation, they hold the copyright to the German Version. Then they translate it back to English. Now they hold another copyrighted translation, that just happens to be identical to my original.
IANAL, but as a writer I know some things about copyright.
1. Yes, translations are copyrightable.
2. The original author owns the right of translation of a work. Therefore, if someone wants to translate a book of mine into German, he/she must purchase from me the right to translate and publish that work in German. S/he may then publish the work. Usually such contracts with stipulate that the original author derives 30-40% royalties from the translation.
(NB: Often the initial contract with the publishing house will transfer this right to the initial publisher with stipulation about royalties to be collected in the event a translation is published.)
3. The original author's name and copyright info must be on the translation. Thus:
_The Rise and Fall of the Phong Empire_ copyright 2000 by Eric Snyder II. German translation copyright 2001 by Hans Offmeibuch.
4. There is no right to retranslate the work into English. It already existed in English. Doing so would be equivalent to piracy.
5. If the original author can't be found, or is unknown, or his/her copyright has expired, then the translation can be created and copyrighted by the translator.
Thus, Beowulf can be translated into modern English and the translation copyrighted by the translator.
However, there are almost certainly translations old enough to be in the public domain.
If you want to copyright your own translation, though, you'd better start with the original Anglo-Saxon.
LL
Re: SEIV is being Pirated
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