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Translator won case against publisher
Thread poster: Stephanie Wloch
Stephanie Wloch
Stephanie Wloch  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 11:10
Member (2003)
Jun 23, 2004

Karin Krieger wins case against publisher at Federal Court of Justice

After differences with Krieger, Piper Verlag announced in 1999 that it was withdrawing all works she had translated and having them retranslated prior to their reissue. (...)
The original point at issue was that there is a standard term in literary translators’ agreements that if a book sells really well, then from a certain point on the translator shares in the profits. If I remember rightly, Krieger did ... See more
Karin Krieger wins case against publisher at Federal Court of Justice

After differences with Krieger, Piper Verlag announced in 1999 that it was withdrawing all works she had translated and having them retranslated prior to their reissue. (...)
The original point at issue was that there is a standard term in literary translators’ agreements that if a book sells really well, then from a certain point on the translator shares in the profits. If I remember rightly, Krieger did not even claim all the profits she was entitled to, but the publisher gave her none and set about removing her translation from the market.(..)

http://www.margaret-marks.com/Transblawg/archives/000887.html
In German more detailled:
http://www.wrp.de/aktuelles/meldungen/pages/show.prl?params=recent=1&type=1&id=254&currPage=

Congratulations, Karin!)))

[Edited at 2004-06-23 13:52] ▲ Collapse
 
Andrzej Lejman
Andrzej Lejman  Identity Verified
Poland
Local time: 11:10
German to Polish
+ ...
Last but not least, Jun 23, 2004

her name is KRIEGER

Andrzej
 
BelkisDV
BelkisDV  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 05:10
Spanish to English
+ ...
Good for her Jun 28, 2004

Hats off to her! One point for our side

Regards,
Belkis
 
Valters Feists
Valters Feists  Identity Verified
Latvia
Local time: 12:10
English to Latvian
+ ...
Withdraw very good translations? Jul 10, 2004

Has the publisher actually withdrawn the translated books and had them re-translated?

Does it mean that publishers *prefer obeisant translators* to talented translators who dare to claim their fair share?
 
Robert M Maier
Robert M Maier
Local time: 11:10
English to German
+ ...
Some do :) . Some don't :( . Nov 29, 2004

Valters Feists wrote:
Does it mean that publishers *prefer obeisant translators* to talented translators who dare to claim their fair share?


The impression does not appear to be totally wrong, indeed... cf. the case of (legendary) German Asterix-translator Gudrun Penndorf, who, after cooperation with the German publishers for more than 20 years (29 books), for the first time dared to ask for a more adequate payment (considering the huge success of the series)... and was simply *dropped*, period.

http://www.comedix.de/lexikon/special/penndorf/interview.php



(German readers' reactions to the two books that were published since have been largely negative - which might be due to the series creator running out of good ideas, but... language and its use (i.e. in the translation) is mentioned quite often, as well. Could it be...?)
 


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Translator won case against publisher







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