Licensing in Open Translation

From Aspirationtech.org Wiki

Questions on licensing

• commercializing business from a free volunteer organization: translating copyrighted material -- yeeyan.com
• GV: english content under cc license for free non-profit use; is translation a derivative work? does it need to be specified? can you assume
• bloggers are ok with that?
• cc licensed work can be freely translated without permission if there is not a “no-derivatives” term; is a quote in violation? Fair use is in effect.
• if you agree to having it translated are you giving the copyright away
• no such thing as “objective” literal translation, there will always be interpretation – thus transformative...
• get over the hangup of presuming translation is more desirable than other forms of transformation.
• parsing the acceptability of translation undermines the power of translation, usefulness of translation
• cc agreements allow for exceptions – if you set an attribution only license, you can create agreements for specific use
• if you use a non-commercial term, then you can enter into commercial sub-agreements
• cc license for commercial use: charge for the translation service, not for the translation itself
• publication cannot have access restricted (sold for a price) if there is a non-commercial term on the source material
• is the content being monetized? do you charge for access? even advertising...
• a content provider can set terms of use requiring open access, granting translation rights and ad monetization – attribution “CC by”
• CC licenses for translations: once this content is translation what can you do with it – back translation would be a problem
• do we want a literal translation or do we want to know what it's “saying” -- summarizing is ok
• misleading reviews...
• what do we translate? permissions... difficulty... what is worth the time and effort?
• google translation – rendering and then monetizing... or just an accessibility tool?
• using copyrighted content under certain circumstances – do you intend to republish the content to the public
• open translation advances improving accuracy etc is shared, and thus must be easy to repurpose
• who owns translation memory strings? it is essentially data, no one owns it... still subjective
• CC zero – universal waiver of copyright to allow for different jurisdictions and laws regarding the ability to give up your rights, e.g., moral right (EU) – eliminates the question of “what rights do I have?”
• minimum unit of translation: one tweet, no; a twitter feed, yes – based on features (hashtags, chronology)
• mining translations to create translation memory: can you copyright your creation or should you just defend your right to create it in the first place
• open business model: distinguishing between the service and the content – establish a relationship with your consumer: don't charge for access, but pay for the continuing creation
• general translation access as a premium feature
• “share-alike” / “copyleft” -- if the original content is non-commercial, then derivatives and translations must be non-commercial; fear of commercial exploitation – enter into a specific agreement to translate for commercial use – work with the creator to find out why
• the author could “pay” for the translation as a method of distribution: self-publication of work
• how many authors accept CC by licensing? how valuable is your content
• cooperative agreements for translation, e.g., wikipedia

Final questions:

1. Are translations derivative works?
2. How to "protect" quality? – a license to use but not butcher/defame
3. CC and open translation business model?
4. Availability of educational materials about licensing - risks and best practices.
5. Summaries as solutions? Translation memories and licensing status?