Is it ok not translated? Thread poster: Paulinho Fonseca
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Paulinho Fonseca 
Brazil
Local time: 17:30
Member (2011)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Hi there,
One of my clients has raised an issue.
The word copyright. He is asking why I did not translate the term in a manual.
To be honest, I have never translated this term in other files.
Could you help?
Kind regards.
Paulinho Fonseca
| | | | Charlotte Farrell
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:30
Member (2013)
German to English
+ ...
| As long as you can justify yourself, it's fine | Jun 3, 2013 |
If you never normally translate the word (I assume you mean into Portuguese) and can prove that the word 'copyright' is often found in Portuguese texts, then you shouldn't have a problem. Maybe provide a couple of examples of 'copyright' being used to prove that your choice not to translate it is common and justified.
| | | | Paulinho Fonseca
Brazil
Local time: 17:30
Member (2011)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | "Is it ok not translated?" | Jun 3, 2013 |
Thank you Charlotte Farrell,
I will work on your suggestion.
Kind regards.
Paulinho Fonseca
| | | | Gad Kohenov
Israel
Local time: 22:30
English to Hebrew
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| direitos reservados | Jun 3, 2013 |
Does exist in Portuguese. Or does it not?
direitos autorais like derechos de autor in Spanish.
See is one of these fits your context, before leaving the English term.
Best,
G.K.
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| not unless it's untranslatable | Jun 3, 2013 |
I assume you meant when you're translating from English into Portuguese.
I would always avoid leaving a term untranslated unless there were compelling reasons to leave it untranslated i.e. that it is common to use the original term in the language in question.
Unless you can find categorical evidence of there being no alternative for the word 'copyright' in Portuguese and of the word being used in English by people who write in Portuguese more often than in Portuguese, I would say th... See more I assume you meant when you're translating from English into Portuguese.
I would always avoid leaving a term untranslated unless there were compelling reasons to leave it untranslated i.e. that it is common to use the original term in the language in question.
Unless you can find categorical evidence of there being no alternative for the word 'copyright' in Portuguese and of the word being used in English by people who write in Portuguese more often than in Portuguese, I would say that it's not OK to leave it untranslated.
I don't work in Portuguese so it's hard to tell and the only thing I can come close to is Spanish and asking myself whether it would be natural to say '¿tienes copyright para esto?' to which I would say that it isn't natural at all but that could be a whole different kettle of fish since it's another language.
There are sometimes cases for using the original term. One that comes to mind is the use of the word 'email' in Spanish 'instead of 'correo electronico'.
There are some documents were the register requires the use of the latter but others where it's OK to use the word 'email' and in fact it's preferable to do so because it's more succinct. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Paulinho Fonseca
Brazil
Local time: 17:30
Member (2011)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you All,
Your replies have been very useful. Gad and Marie-Helene commented on important issues. English terms being used in other languages. In Brazil terms like email, copyright have been used and culturally bad or not some groups prefer "deliver" to "entrega". You have just reminded me of that.
Kind regards
Paulinho
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 21:30
Spanish to English
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| Not for nitpickers | Jun 3, 2013 |
I'd say it's usually OK to leave it, especially if it's a footnote. It's not the end of the world. In Spanish, for example, some people do say "el copyright", but "derechos de autor" (lit. "author's rights") would be the proper way to translate it.
| | | | KKastenhuber
Austria
Local time: 21:30
Russian to German
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| Keep in mind the legal concepts may not coincide | Jun 3, 2013 |
As pretty much always in translation, there's no "one fits all" answer to this question.
One thing I believe you should keep in mind when translating such terms is the fact that the underlying legal concepts may differ greatly, and "copyright" vs. "direitos autorais" is a perfect example of that. Of course, these differences aren't always relevant, and in some texts it's perfectly okay or even preferable to replace a legal concept with a similar one in the target culture. Other texts may ... See more As pretty much always in translation, there's no "one fits all" answer to this question.
One thing I believe you should keep in mind when translating such terms is the fact that the underlying legal concepts may differ greatly, and "copyright" vs. "direitos autorais" is a perfect example of that. Of course, these differences aren't always relevant, and in some texts it's perfectly okay or even preferable to replace a legal concept with a similar one in the target culture. Other texts may require you to be more precise (e.g. by leaving the term untranslated, maybe even adding an explanation), and it's your job as a translator to recognize when this is the case. ▲ Collapse
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Ulrica d'Orey
Portugal
Local time: 20:30
English to Portuguese
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| Direitos de autor | Jun 3, 2013 |
This is how I would translate it in European Portuguese in a sentence.
But would leave it in English if it was a footnote, etc.
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neilmac wrote:
I'd say it's usually OK to leave it, especially if it's a footnote. It's not the end of the world. In Spanish, for example, some people do say "el copyright", but "derechos de autor" (lit. "author's rights") would be the proper way to translate it.
-at least in my experience with Spanish. If nothing else, you can bracket the translation "Copy right [Direitos de autor]"
| | | | | There is a legal difference | Jun 3, 2013 |
Though the text is somewhat clumsy for my taste, Wikipedia tries to explain that there is a difference between the anglo-saxon legal concept of Copyright, and the Roman-Germanic concept of "direitos autorais".
I am not a lawyer, yet whoever wrote that Wikipedia entry admits that the situation is rather cloudy.
Though for good reasons "Copyright" does not com... See more Though the text is somewhat clumsy for my taste, Wikipedia tries to explain that there is a difference between the anglo-saxon legal concept of Copyright, and the Roman-Germanic concept of "direitos autorais".
I am not a lawyer, yet whoever wrote that Wikipedia entry admits that the situation is rather cloudy.
Though for good reasons "Copyright" does not come up on any Brazilian law, if you need a deadly weapon to prove your point, Brazil's own Federal Revenue Service uses it on this page, http://www.receita.fazenda.gov.br/helpreceitanet/creditos.htm , as innocently as you did. ▲ Collapse
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Copyrights and authorship rights can usually be used as translations of each other with the understanding that each system handles them differently anyway (just like murder may be defined differently in Germany and in Austra or Spain and LatAm countries, no matter the same word is used). Hence, I wouldn't sweat it. On the other hand, there are indeed some differences, and the translator's failure to mark the difference could lead the reader to think that he's dealing with either the Romano-Germa... See more Copyrights and authorship rights can usually be used as translations of each other with the understanding that each system handles them differently anyway (just like murder may be defined differently in Germany and in Austra or Spain and LatAm countries, no matter the same word is used). Hence, I wouldn't sweat it. On the other hand, there are indeed some differences, and the translator's failure to mark the difference could lead the reader to think that he's dealing with either the Romano-Germanic or the Anglo-Saxon version where in fact he's dealing with the other one. That's a tough call. A lot depends on the tolerance of your target language and audience for untranslated foreign words. ▲ Collapse
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Paulinho Fonseca
Brazil
Local time: 17:30
Member (2011)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Well, it's been really rewarding since I last opened this forum. Tmanho thanks for you contributions.
It was smartly pointed out regarding copyright x authorship which in Brazil has differences. As it states
http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direito_autoral
Thank you all.
Paulinho
[Edited at 2013-06-04 01:48 GMT]
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