Copyright Issue

SupremeLoki

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Quite simply, I found a mtl novel that had a really good plot, and the only thing that bothered me was the translation.

Can I edit + improve the MTL version, and then upload it, and if so under what?

Can I be sued for it? I'm not after the money...
 

Assurbanipal_II

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Quite simply, I found a mtl novel that had a really good plot, and the only thing that bothered me was the translation.

Can I edit + improve the MTL version, and then upload it, and if so under what?

Can I be sued for it? I'm not after the money...
You pirate a pirated version ... :blob_neutral: Who is going to sue you?
 

J_Chemist

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LilRora

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This depends on a number of things, primarily on the author's and translator's permissions. If they're not specified, you should credit them clearly and there might not be any issues, but it's a bit more complicated.

Law can be a little weird in regards to copyright, and it's an established law that a translation is your individual, creative work protected under its own copyright. Issues start to crop up once there is monetary gain, but as long as you're publishing it as a translation (a dependent work, iirc, there's a legal term for that), not as your own original fiction, I'm pretty sure there's no issue. This might differ in various countries though.

If you're editing an existing translation though, things change, because you would be claiming a part of someone's work as your own. I've honestly no idea how things would legally work in that scenario, but with my limited knowledge, I'd say you either need explicit permission from the translator or you need to rewrite all of it, or you're breaking the law.
 
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Sergeandgreen

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Quite simply, I found a mtl novel that had a really good plot, and the only thing that bothered me was the translation.

Can I edit + improve the MTL version, and then upload it, and if so under what?

Can I be sued for it? I'm not after the money...
Theoretically you can use almost everything in a noncomercial way as long as you mention that all rights belong to the original creator. Just to be save you should also credit the original translator if you want to use a lot of his translation. If you start from scratch with the original source, that isn't necessary. But generally you are save as long as you don't try to earn money with it or don't say its your own work. If the original translator wants to translate his story on his own, you would need to take it down, more or less instantly, as your translation would be a competition to the author's, which naturally isn't good for his income even if you don't make any money with it yourself. But even then, he wouldn't really be able to file a lawsuit against you, as far as i know. At least not one where he would win.
But if you know a way to contact the original author you could also ask him for permission to translate his story. If he isn't someone super famous, I'm sure he would answer to an email or something like that.
Oh and i think the translator doesn't have any right on a MTL. It would be something different if he translated it himself, but technically it isn't his own translation. But you would need to look that up if you want to be sure.
 
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