Guest guest Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 Hello, does anyone here know if I should worry about copyrights when translating Chinese medical journals? Some people are doing it, I see articles online that do not mention copyrights (although they may be mentioned on the original). Or would the Chinese authors be happy that their work is translated and reaches more people? I would like to hear your opinions on this. all the best Tom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 Tom, > does anyone here know if I should worry about copyrights when translating > Chinese medical journals? Some people are doing it, I see articles online > that do not mention copyrights (although they may be mentioned on the > original). Or would the Chinese authors be happy that their work is > translated and reaches more people? > I would like to hear your opinions on this. > Translations of copyrighted material are known as " derivatives " and the derivative copyright is inherent to the claim of copyright made when the international copyright notice is place on any written work, of any size. It is a violation of international law to publish a work translated from Chinese without formally obtaining permission from the copyright holder. This is just as true of periodical articles as it is of books, films, etc. Unpublished translations for personal use are not considered " published, " therefore do not violate copyright. However, the legal definition of published is two or more copies. I am well aware that this legal requirement is often breached and that the author of a Chinese article is unlikely to sue. However, if you ask for the permission, you will often get it given freely, along with the cooperation of the original author. There are two exceptions: 1. Fair Use, 2. Public Domain. " Fair Use " is use of copyrighted material within one's own original work, as in quotations. The legal test is whether " financial damage " is done to the copyright holder. For example, you do not violate someone's copyright to translate a quotation within a review, article or text of your own. However, if you push the quotation size such that it can be reasonably argued that your readers would be discouraged from buying the original author's publication, you would be in violation of their copyright. " Public Domain " generally (very generally) applied to materials where the copyright has expired, or where there was no orignial copyright. Here, however, you need to be careful because changes in the copyright law over time mean that there are variances. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 Thank you very much for your informative reply, Bob. I will try and contact the author(s) before I start translating. I am now trying to find out how I can order the journals from abroad. China Inernational Book Trading Company's website doesn't work these days? I arrive at another website. Does anyone know of a portal to order the magazines? Thanks Tom. Chinese Medicine , " rfaultson " <bob@p...> wrote: > > Tom, > > > does anyone here know if I should worry about copyrights when > translating > > Chinese medical journals? Some people are doing it, I see articles > online > > that do not mention copyrights (although they may be mentioned on > the > > original). Or would the Chinese authors be happy that their work is > > translated and reaches more people? > > I would like to hear your opinions on this. > > > > > Translations of copyrighted material are known as " derivatives " and > the derivative copyright is inherent to the claim of copyright made > when the international copyright notice is place on any written work, > of any size. It is a violation of international law to publish a > work translated from Chinese without formally obtaining permission > from the copyright holder. This is just as true of periodical > articles as it is of books, films, etc. Unpublished translations for > personal use are not considered " published, " therefore do not violate > copyright. However, the legal definition of published is two or more > copies. > > I am well aware that this legal requirement is often breached and > that the author of a Chinese article is unlikely to sue. However, if > you ask for the permission, you will often get it given freely, along > with the cooperation of the original author. > > There are two exceptions: 1. Fair Use, 2. Public Domain. > > " Fair Use " is use of copyrighted material within one's own original > work, as in quotations. The legal test is whether " financial damage " > is done to the copyright holder. For example, you do not violate > someone's copyright to translate a quotation within a review, article > or text of your own. However, if you push the quotation size such > that it can be reasonably argued that your readers would be > discouraged from buying the original author's publication, you would > be in violation of their copyright. > > " Public Domain " generally (very generally) applied to materials where > the copyright has expired, or where there was no orignial copyright. > Here, however, you need to be careful because changes in the > copyright law over time mean that there are variances. > > Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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