Here's what I don't get:
If someone asks if they can translate your story, that means they love it, they want to share it and they plan to give you full credit for writing it in English.
If you tell someone they can't translate your story, they're going to anyway AND they can't attach your name to it, or you'll find out. So it's at that point that you, the author, encouraged people to plagiarize you.
People just want to have fun and read. They don't want to get spanked Icy-style for having made the translation for their friends. So to fly under the radar, they'd have to post it in a way where a search for the author's name wouldn't bring it up. And I imagine that means attributing the writing to someone else.
You are in denial if you think that a "please don't" is going to stop people from wanting to read and share your story. THIS IS A COMPLIMENT that they're asking, because they want to do it in good faith and credit you properly. Besides,
YOU'RE the one who put it out there.
So why the widespread stance against translations?
.
.
I'm sure everyone has their own reasons, but I don't allow it for mine (officially) for the same reason I don't think it's cool to copy my fics and post them elsewhere (giving me credit) -- I make changes to my fics all the time. Either I find some little detail that needs to be changed or I decide I don't like something and change it up. I don't want someone reading an older copy of my work elsewhere because there are probably errors or outdated text.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the other issue there is trusting that the person who has asked to translate is going to do a decent job. I can't read Polish, so how am I to do know if the translation is true to what I've written?
That said, I'm not interested in sending lynch mobs after someone who's posted my work w/o my permission. Not that I have that kind of mindmeld power over anyone. Heh!
Hey Jammers. I politely request that my stories aren't translated into languages I can't speak because I can't read the translation. I have no way to verify the translation, and I spend a lot of time choosing my words, and sometimes even choosing the meter of the prose. Also, I'm not sure how well BBS translates into other languages. I'm all for the sharing and downloading of my fics, and dude, I'm super-pumped when someone likes my story enough to translate it. Having my story posted as authored by BellaFlan in a language I can't read makes me nervous. It's very easy to misunderstand something and lose the entire point of the fic in translation.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, if a girl from a country, let's say Russia, makes a translation for her friends to read, I certainly won't throw a fit over it. This is just my preference.
My question to that would be, do you think that asking people not to has prevented people from actually making the translations?
ReplyDeleteDoesn't it bother you that there are now translated copies of your story out there that's just not credited to you?
See, I'm not sure it's the same people who request my permission and then translate without crediting me. There's not much I can do about it. The truth is, I'd rather not be credited on a bad translation. The ladies who had requested to translate BBS were very friendly and sweet, and I was kind and thankful to them in my reply. That being said, their English wasn't very strong. Long story longer: I'd rather not be credited on a bad translation of BBS.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Flan on this one. A badly translated version of RW or CTtR is one I'd rather not lay claim to.
ReplyDeleteI've never had anyone ask to translate one of my stories, but I think that I would take it as a compliment.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand how an author would be opposed to it, but, for myself, I would hope that readers would realize that it had been translated by an amateur and take it as such. Since I am also an amateur writer, mistakes are inevitable. I just hope that whoever reads my stories enjoys them.