Forum Moderators: not2easy
I am developing a new website with a ton of original content. The subject is popular around the world and it's a very competitive industry. I've been looking into the possibility of having the content translated into various languages. One reason is that it will help in those markets. The other reason is I don't want this content to be copied into another language before we do it. I would like some advice as to whether a writer holds the copyright on content written in English, which someone else converts into German or French (or any other language). I'm not sure what the legal issue is, so would love it if someone can answer that.
I have approached a company who specialise in translations and was quoted $0.13/$0.14 per word. I have over 50,000 words of content, so if I wanted to translate into 10 languages, we're talking $65k - way beyond my budget. I was told this is the lower end of the industry, but I cannot afford such a price, and will probably look to get students to do it for cheaper. Anyone with experience offloading such work to students?
I did have a look at the Google translator tool. But a Spanish friend of mine said "The worlds largest birthday cake" was translated to "The cake largest in the world". So it's not really any good for this project. However I have considered using Google to translate the content if there is an issue of legality, since if we get in first with the foriegn content before someone else steals it, even if it's badly worded, it still shows we own the copyright. Then I can gradually get it re-worded in the proper format. Any thoughts on this idea? Is it just a stupid idea?
Any advice appreciated.
Tim
So I wouldn't rush into translations just to "protect" the content. You don't need to do that. There will be rogues who infringe your content, but they will do that in your original language too...
