Table of Contents
- 1 Can I translate a book for personal use?
- 2 How much does it cost to translate a book?
- 3 How do I ask for permission to translate a book?
- 4 Are translations public domain?
- 5 How much do freelance translators charge per word?
- 6 Are translators’ works protected by copyright?
- 7 Who owns the copyright in the translation of a book?
- 8 Who can authorize a translation of a book?
Can I translate a book for personal use?
Since the author is the copyright’s holder for his book, you can’t translate a book without his permission and even a written agreement. If a book’s rights belong to the publisher, you’ll have to contact him or her.
How much does it cost to translate a book?
You should expect to pay anywhere from USD$0.08 to USD$0.12 per word, depending on the languages involved, the length of the book, and the difficulty of the language.
How can I translate my own book?
How to translate a book: Everything you need to know
- Establish an end-goal. Think about why you want to translate your book into another language.
- Determine a target market.
- Consider using machine translation for common phrases.
- Hire a professional translation service.
- Edit and proofread.
- Publish, market and monitor.
How do I ask for permission to translate a book?
The usual path is that you contact a publisher that might be interested in publishing that book and, if you are a professional translator you propose yourself to translate the book and get paid by them to do so. They then handle all the copyrights and permissions issues. Try the author’s place of work.
Are translations public domain?
Is a translation of a public domain work protected by copyright? Yes. A translation is a derivative work of the original and is protected by copyright. The permission of the copyright owner is needed to translate the owner’s work into another language.
What are translation rights?
Translation rights are the right to publish a book in languages other than the original language. If the book was published in the U.S. in English, then publishing in any other country other than the U.S., and in other languages other than English, would be considered foreign rights or translation rights, respectively.
How much do freelance translators charge per word?
You can generally expect to earn between 0.04 USD to 0.08 USD per word for translation. Also, remember to set a minimum fee that is reasonable. This tends to be around $15 to $30 USD to mitigate for the accounting and administrative work that goes into even a small job.
Are translators’ works protected by copyright?
Originality means that the work was not copied from some-one else and possesses at least a small amount of creativity. Therefore the question arises as to whether the work of translators meets the requirements for copyright. The Copyright Act discusses the status of translations. A translation is basically a derivative work.
What does it mean to be a freelance translator?
We could start by looking for a dictionary-style definition. A freelancer is a self-employed person who works as an independent contractor for a range of clients. In the case of freelance translators, that means converting text from one language to another for translation agencies, multinational companies and even the occasional private individual.
Who owns the copyright in the translation of a book?
If the author authorizes a translation, the author owns the copyright in the translation since the translation is a work for hire. This is because in case of a work for hire, the employing party is the author.
Only the copyright owner can authorize a translation that will be distributed. This includes works that are translated into another language and distributed in parts of the world where that language is spoken.