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Re:Sherlock lives in public domain, US court rules by melling on Tuesday June 17, 2014 @06:48AM (#7903644)
Is this only the English version? I read somewhere that translations are derived works and hold a different status.
Re:Sherlock lives in public domain, US court rules by jvreeland on Tuesday June 17, 2014 @10:18AM (#7904542)
IANAL (or that experience with copyright) but, it probably depends on the country and how it was translated. A translation of Clash of Kings to Spanish in the US for example would be considered a derivative work. A translator would have been hired by the publisher (or similar party) and created with permission from the original copyright holder who would then retain a copyright over the Spanish copy, although probably the same copyright. Translating without the permission of the copyright holder as far as I'm aware is against US copyright laws. I imagine it's different if you translate something without a current copyright, a translation of Beowulf for example may be eligible for copyright. This is just extrapolation from my limited knowledge on the subject.
Re:Sherlock lives in public domain, US court rules by vidarh on Tuesday June 17, 2014 @10:24AM (#7904578)
Yes, there is generally a separate copyright in the translation. I'm not aware whether/how common exceptions from that apply depending on jurisdiction. But most places you should be able to do a new translation from the original and be ok.