Respected Bloggers and Podcasters Need to Get the Facts
In show 354 of CNET's Buzz Out Loud podcast, Tom Merritt & Molly Wood mused about the efficacy of a translation of part of the new Harry Potter novel posted on a French web site. The basic complaint that Tom & Molly addressed was the apparent pressure, according to them, felt by frustrated non-English speaking Harry Potter fans waiting until October 25th for translated versions to appear in book stores around the world. The point of this blog post is to express surprise and shock that two otherwise brilliant commentators, bloggers and podcasters would even hint at supporting any rationale for copyright violations as obviously nasty as illegal Harry Potter translations (or for that matter, illegal translations of any books written by Tom or Molly).
For a fine piece of fiction such as a Harry Potter novel to be effectively translated, the best and most appropriate writer has to be found for each language. To put it bluntly, the vast majority of writers in any language simply aren't up to the task of translating J.K. Rowling's prose at anything close to the quality needed to effectively tell the story. In fact, if this type of task was in any way easy, we'd all be able to do it for ourselves in our native language. A writer contracted to do such work for a long series of novels must be available at the appropriate time. Sometimes writing schedules work out quite well. Sometimes they don't. In any event, a writer good enough to do the French translation of a Harry Potter novel, may not be sitting around idly wasting the days, weeks and months of her life waiting for Ms. Rowling to do her thing. Even if completed chapters can be sent to translators relatively early in the process, e.g., in the last few months of the rewrite and revision process, it takes months (even after using the finest translation databases) for the translating writer to plow through something as complex and idiomatic as a Harry Potter novel. That the book is being released around the world in so many languages throughout the rest of 2007 is actually a remarkable achievement.
Publishers, editors and authors form a closely linked team which produce a popular work of fiction through a clearly delineated process of original writing, submission, editing, rewriting, revision and publication. Effectively adding languages other than the author's requires that a similar process be undertaken for each one. Readers in France boast the possession of immensely powerful language and literary traditions which in many areas predate English. To think that the partial translation of the latest Harry Potter novel by some greedy and selfish youth could possibly provide anything close to the quality French readers deserve is absurd. That lack of quality is both a defense and an affront of course, in addition to being grossly offensive and illegal. Tom & Molly did not support copyright violation, but they provided an intellectual excuse which cannot in fact be justified in any way.
Copyright exists to protect authors first and foremost. J.K. Rowling has by every account worked very hard to create the wonderful series of books which have essentially placed her in the ranks of one of the richest women in the world and among the pantheon of most loved writers. From where I'm sitting, she deserves every bit of approbation, respect, money and copyright protection. Anyone who monkeys around with her writing should be punished and held up as an example to others. I don't propose for one minute that we treat copyright violators like murderers or anything of the sort. I do however believe that appropriate punishments can be meted out which thoroughly discourage thoughtless or greedy fools from taking the best quality literary sustenance away from those who so dearly want it. Patience in this case will be rewarded with a superb translation, untarnished by the pathetically written eructations of an impatient fool bent on showing the world that he knows better.
Content producers, Tom Merritt & Molly Wood included, need to protect the spirit and efficacy of copyright at all times. Tom, Molly and many other pundits also need to clearly separate the loony tenets of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), from the legitimate application of traditional copyright applied to unlawful web postings and other demonstrable offenses against legitimate writers and their works. Buzz Out Loud is heard by hundreds of thousands. In our view, Tom & Molly have to do a better job of eliminating the support of childish impatience by helping to explain exactly why popular books often cannot be released simultaneously in multiple languages. Simply discussing an understanding of childish impatience on the part of the French malefactor lends efficacy to a copyright violation which is clearly enormous because of the vast size of the Harry Potter target. Wrong is wrong, in any language.
For a fine piece of fiction such as a Harry Potter novel to be effectively translated, the best and most appropriate writer has to be found for each language. To put it bluntly, the vast majority of writers in any language simply aren't up to the task of translating J.K. Rowling's prose at anything close to the quality needed to effectively tell the story. In fact, if this type of task was in any way easy, we'd all be able to do it for ourselves in our native language. A writer contracted to do such work for a long series of novels must be available at the appropriate time. Sometimes writing schedules work out quite well. Sometimes they don't. In any event, a writer good enough to do the French translation of a Harry Potter novel, may not be sitting around idly wasting the days, weeks and months of her life waiting for Ms. Rowling to do her thing. Even if completed chapters can be sent to translators relatively early in the process, e.g., in the last few months of the rewrite and revision process, it takes months (even after using the finest translation databases) for the translating writer to plow through something as complex and idiomatic as a Harry Potter novel. That the book is being released around the world in so many languages throughout the rest of 2007 is actually a remarkable achievement.
Publishers, editors and authors form a closely linked team which produce a popular work of fiction through a clearly delineated process of original writing, submission, editing, rewriting, revision and publication. Effectively adding languages other than the author's requires that a similar process be undertaken for each one. Readers in France boast the possession of immensely powerful language and literary traditions which in many areas predate English. To think that the partial translation of the latest Harry Potter novel by some greedy and selfish youth could possibly provide anything close to the quality French readers deserve is absurd. That lack of quality is both a defense and an affront of course, in addition to being grossly offensive and illegal. Tom & Molly did not support copyright violation, but they provided an intellectual excuse which cannot in fact be justified in any way.
Copyright exists to protect authors first and foremost. J.K. Rowling has by every account worked very hard to create the wonderful series of books which have essentially placed her in the ranks of one of the richest women in the world and among the pantheon of most loved writers. From where I'm sitting, she deserves every bit of approbation, respect, money and copyright protection. Anyone who monkeys around with her writing should be punished and held up as an example to others. I don't propose for one minute that we treat copyright violators like murderers or anything of the sort. I do however believe that appropriate punishments can be meted out which thoroughly discourage thoughtless or greedy fools from taking the best quality literary sustenance away from those who so dearly want it. Patience in this case will be rewarded with a superb translation, untarnished by the pathetically written eructations of an impatient fool bent on showing the world that he knows better.
Content producers, Tom Merritt & Molly Wood included, need to protect the spirit and efficacy of copyright at all times. Tom, Molly and many other pundits also need to clearly separate the loony tenets of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), from the legitimate application of traditional copyright applied to unlawful web postings and other demonstrable offenses against legitimate writers and their works. Buzz Out Loud is heard by hundreds of thousands. In our view, Tom & Molly have to do a better job of eliminating the support of childish impatience by helping to explain exactly why popular books often cannot be released simultaneously in multiple languages. Simply discussing an understanding of childish impatience on the part of the French malefactor lends efficacy to a copyright violation which is clearly enormous because of the vast size of the Harry Potter target. Wrong is wrong, in any language.
Labels: copyright, DMCA, Harry Potter, translation
posted by Howard Carson, Managing Editor @ 4:26 PM
