How does the translation and copyright work together? Generally, the translation does not qualify for copyright protection as it is considered as ‘wor...
How does the translation and copyright work together?
Generally, the translation does not qualify for copyright protection as it is considered as ‘work for hire’ with translator either being employed or contracted to do the work.
Does the translated text need to have sufficient originality for the author to be able to retain any sort of copyright authorship, but who can be the judge of that? Logically, since the translated text is only an adaptation of the original content, the translator should be rightful copyright owner of translated text, as no one has actually put these words in this language in this exact order. It's definitely seems reasonable enough to consider the copyright infringement impossible in the translation of legal documents, user manuals and factual in nature technical and scientific literature where the translation would meet the originality requirement, but what about the literary translations where translator’s skill and effort?
According to Copyright Act, a translation is a derivative work that could only be done with the permission of the copyright owner, and if we are talking about a translation of an ancient Persian poem for example, the underlying work is in the public domain, and therefore the person performing the translation work may claim copyright.
At the beginning of the modern copyright era, back in late 70s and 80s, various International organizations stressed upon implementation of legislation to grant translators with the copyright protection with the idea of advocating global development and the importance of translations in culture. According to Berne convention, the current international agreement governing copyright, if somebody is making profit from the translated text, the translator is entitled to a share of the profits reinforcing the intellectual property and appreciating the translator’s skill and effort.
There is decent amount of uncertainty regarding general copyright status of translations, and cases are dealt with on an individual basis.
Russian Translation
Many people believe that Russian translation is an easy thing and all you have to do is to change words from the Russian text into the equivalent words of the English text. However, this is not true since some phrases, if translated literally, would make no sense. Russian translation is a rather complicated process, that’s why it should be performed by experienced native speaking translators.
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