Re: Sell translations of articles

On 7/23/97, Carlos de Miguel <ectil06[_at_]sis.ucm.es> wrote:
>
> Greetings for everybody from a warm Madrid.
>
> I know a person that made translations of some articles of a magazine.
>
> Do you think that if she buys any samples of the suitable sample of
> the magazine, she could sell a copy of the corresponding translation?
> Maybe one copy per sample?
>
> Anyone can buy any publication, and with the purchase, he obtains
> implicitly a licence to use it. But the content of the licence is
> not generally delimited.
>
> There is usually an notice of copyright, but
>
> - does this mean that the not-mentioned-actions in the notice are
> permitted, and so this is the content of the licence? (the
> transformation or translation of the work is not mention as
> prohibited, so we could take it as permitted)
>
> - or the notice is just a warning, and the content of the license
> is delimited by custom?
>
> For example. She can give the magazine away, and even getting the
> prize she paid for it: can she give it with its translation, and
> purchase a prize for the translation? Who receives the review, is
> allowed (in many countries) to do copies for private use; do you
> think that he can also make or obtain a translation, for private
> use? Will not he be allowed to ask somebody to make a translation
> for him?
>

In the United States, buying a magazine will not give the purchaser the right to make a written translation of that magazine -- even if you buy as many copies as there are translations. [On the other hand, if you are willing to pay that much, you can probably license the translation right from the copyright owner].

Mark Lemley
Assistant Professor, University of Texas School of Law Of Counsel, Fish & Richardson, P.C.
mlemley[_at_]mail.law.utexas.edu

You can find a list of my articles and books, and information on how to obtain them, at http://www.law.utexas.edu/lemley/pubs.htm

For information on the Intellectual Property program at UT, see http://www.utexas.edu/law/acadaff/intelprop/ Received on Wed Jul 23 1997 - 19:45:05 GMT