Are translations of a work covered under the same copyright as the original work? Can the translation be given away without infringing on the copyright? Specifically, there’s a website that provides translations of Japanese manga (not scans, just text translations). The website owner has recently recieved a letter from a manga publisher forbidding her to publish the translations. I was just wondering if any Dopers knew how copyright laws address this situation. Thanks…
As a rule of thumb (and hopefully a legal beagle will get here with the finer details) copyright is automatic in most countries, i.e. you don’t have to apply for it. So even if it goes across the border between countries, a copyright violation is still in effect and the owner might come after you. After all, that’s what’s happening with P2P. If it was possible to host a server in some obscure country that doesn’t care (and there are those) and be safe, it’d be done.
Translations in the way you seem to indicate in your post is spreading the copyrighted material which is a violation. Basically, to publish a translated work, you must get permission from the holder of the copyright.
It’s all regulated in the Berne Convention.
There are two issues here. First, as The Gaspode writes, the copyright owner of the original material has control over who can disseminate a translation.
Second, the creator of the translation has a separate and equally binding copyright on the translation from the time it is created. So a translation’s copyright can last longer than the original’s.
The OP appears to indicate that a new translation is being made, which is illegal. But if the translation is being copied from another source, that is also illegal. The website owner needs to take down whatever is infringing.
Hmmm, thanks for the replies; I didn’t know much about translation copyright laws.
Yes, the website owner is producing new translations. Only of works that are not currently translated into English. She’s done it for years and the Japanese manga companies haven’t cared since the English speaking market is such a small part of their business. (plus, I see it as a win for them, free translations that only encourage more sales of their products anayway) But, now there’s a new trend of licensing Japanese manga for publication in the US and I guess the manga companies are getting more zealous about enforcing their conpyrights.
Similarly, just because the original work is in the public domain doesn’t mean that a translation is. Look at the KJV and the NRSV versions of the Bible, for example.