News Calvis: Parting Ways with Kobatochan

I think we're pretending it doesn't need to be licensed and just arguing for the sake of who has the moral high ground. Cuz drama~

 

If you ignore the copyright issues, Calvis would retain the rights to his translations (only the ones he did himself) since there was no written agreement, but that's all irrelevant because neither of them have any rights to translate in the first place, so this is more of an "honour among thieves" situation and the law is irrelevant. The hypothetical copyright status of a hypothetical legal translation has nothing to do with who has the moral high ground here.

 

Neither of them have the right to publish their translations, the act of translating itself doesn't infringe copyright. Their translations themselves belong to whoever made them, assuming they weren't sold. Of course the Korean publishers are free to come in and sue them for all the money they've made from their products and DMCA the site at any time though.

 

Your first sentence is correct, I could have been clearer on that part. Your second sentence is wrong though. Derivative works such as a translation only have their own copyright status if the work is lawful (a licensed translation for example). In the case of an unlawful derivative work, the derivative work has no copyright and so nobody could be said to own it (though distributing it could still infringe on the copyright of the original work that the derivative was based on).

 

yes normaly translation are "eligible" for copyright as original work, but it's seem only if they have the permission of the publisher or author....

 

TS was a d*ck.. don't care about who get the novel but his betrayal is real.. Shitty TL like this won't go far..

 

With some help from other translators, I will clear up some things.

First, I was in no contract when I was working with KCDS. Kobatochan does not give any contracts out, nor did I ever want to sell my works over. It is like this. All I was looking was for a host so that people can read these translations. It means, in other words, that I was in a partnership, not working under, with KCDS.

Second, he omitted some stuff but I wanted the chapters I wrote to be taken down. They were the works and translations that I created through hard effort and I wanted him to take it down. He cannot force to keep those chapters up against my will legally.

Third, all of these novels were handpicked by me when I translated. I do not know why he is labeling me as a backstabber, but I wanted my own site and wanted the chapters that I wrote taken with me. I did not ask for previous chapters of IatM to be taken down, but he was already refusing and saying this is not how "business" works. I am sure that I have the privilege and right for the chapters written by me to be taken down, nor was I legally bound to a contract.

Lastly, as for pride, I take a lot of pride in translating. I can easily make much more money through jobs (I have worked in 7 part-time jobs, tutoring, and 2 full-time jobs over my life, and am currently progressing with my studies as an Economics Major), but the reason why I translate is for the enjoyment and fun I have in providing readers quality content to read. I love discussing with my readers and I really wished that I did not have to involve them in a personal conversation/matter such as this.

P.S. I can still translate IatM but I was told that I was not allowed, which some groups have messaged me as "unfair demands" since they do not hold the legal publication. I am not decided if I want to translate IatM at the present moment but if I can, I will let you guys know for sure! I wanted a tidy farewell, but I deeply apologize for having this matter be blown out of proportion. Please let me know if you need anything else.

PS2. I also deeply thank those that messaged me regarding this matter. I hope that the Translations community can continue to expand and enlarge even more than it is now, and I hope that all of the readers can continue to support them and I as well.

Sincerely,

Calvis

 

I don't know how this community work but Calvin said that "The chapters and novels are mine and I choose.
I just need a site to host" but kbtc said, "I noted 18USD per chapter of GS and 7 for DP". You need a place to host, then, shouldn't you pay for rent? Since kbtc is paying clavin for the chapter isn't the same as saying that "I am paying you for your service/chapter." From this point, kbtc has at least a right to keep the translation and calvin has the right to bring it to other places. So by wanting to make the translation down, isn't it excessive?

 

He already did pay for rent in effect, that's the 16% cut Kobato takes from the ad revenue the translations generate, as listed here:
https://kobatochan.com/kcds-is-stealing-all-the-money/
It's not like there's some debt to be paid.

And Calvis isn't paid for the chapter, he's paid the ad revenue the chapter earns. There's a difference. There was no contracted work for hire agreement, Calvis was simply hosting his work there. Youtube pays Youtubers the ad revenue their videos earn in the same way, they don't pay for the videos.

 

It's like Youtube in a case like someone previously mentioned. All the content and work that I was did was uploaded, and kobatochan.com is acting as the host like Youtube. However, it doesn't mean that Youtube owns the right to all the videos that their youtubers make. It's a similar scenario here. He was providing a host that I can use to upload these contents. In exchange, I promote the site and provide ad revenue

 

No, Calvis was just being underpaid compared to other translators on other websites, and KCDS was not active at all in the community or the translations. I agree that Calvis was a bit rude when leaving, but he had reasons to leave.

He is translating, on his site. Re read his message.

 

No wonder there wasn't an announcement for a while.
The thing is what irks me now is I remember few people saying in the forums I am the Monarch got a new translator (so was this like planned for someone to take over? i'm not so sure... yikes)... so I thought you dropped but huuu dramaaaa

 

Based on the chat log and the post that the OP wrote, it just makes me think that the OP was being rude and selfish. I think the OP could've handled it more professionally, but decided to shut KCDS out. Oh the drama.

 

Well, the previous conversation was not uploaded, but I formally asked for my works to be taken down beforehand saying that I would very much like it so. In addition, I said I wouldn't translate IatM further since I did not want to involve myself with a controversial matter. Other translators have messaged me later on (after this conversation had happened which should not be leaked) saying that my rights were being oppressed and I could have made them bring it down in the first place according to DMCA or the like if it against my will. I'm thankful for their help, and I was quite frustrated that KCDS did not allow me to do so despite saying that they were works that I wrote down. Anyhow, everything's resolved now and I don't really want to pay attention to this much further and move on. I made this thread to inform the readers of my status, and the reasons why I have left. Though my argument may have been controversial and somewhat unprofessional, it was supposed to be like that since it was a private conversation. I have no reason why he would expose that conversation that he and I had, and label me as a backstabber saying that I "threatened" him that I would translate IatM further. Apparently, I had the rights all along to have the chapters taken down and I also was not restricted in translating further on IatM by any means (which I was unsure of, making it even more frustrating) unless Munpia contacts me directly since kobatochan does not have the official English publication rights. I feel that talks like this should be kept private, and am both infuriated and sorely disappointed in him for aggravating this matter for simply exercising my rights.

P.S. I was up for about 30 hours then working on the website so maybe I wasn't sane and a bit rude, but I did not directly insult him by any means. You can check, but I did not understand why I was being labelled the bad guy nor why I had to even "threaten" him with translating IatM when I had the rights to both all along. Thinking back, it's all really baffling and can't make me help but ponder and regret that I had made a bad decision joining his group initially.

 

Speechless... @Calvis
KCDS felt betrayed, because there was no actual reason for you to leave if you just wanted to host your translations.

And I think I read a part in the messages where you asked for stuff that wasn't yours to be taken down as well(?)

And anyways, the way you handled the matter was quite unprofessional yourself, so when you say

It's not like you handled the matter so it wouldn't get out of proportion, or go smoother.

 

@Calvis
A really smart person once said, "Life is a series of meetings and partings." We can't always control the circumstances of our meetings, but we can usually influence our partings. While a single chatlog isn't sufficient to portray months of your interactions with Kobatochan, it's clear that you didn't manage this parting very well.

Another smart person said, "Life is a series of mistakes punctuated by a few successes." Do your best to learn from your mistakes here. Whenever money is changing hands, always have a contract. Even if it's not enforceable, which it probably wouldn't be in this case, it would have saved a lot of drama. Also, no business conversation, and this was a business conversation, should ever be handled as casual.

Regardless, I hope you're able to parlay those mistakes into something successful in the future.

 

I said I wanted to leave because I wanted to further my career as a translator and go independent in running my own site and designs. There were issues with Patreon because he ran a site Patreon and I wanted my own personal one. Also, the server was slow and I was dissatisfied with the site layout since there were no upgrades on the site (as well as those cancerous ads). There were also a few more reasons, but I will not go further.

I did not ask for any stuff to be taken down, and I did not take any chapters down myself as well when I could've before. In fact,@Chamber was also banned from the chapters on his site and called a back-stabber after erasing the chapters that KCDS was planning to reupload against my will despite the request for me [switched the published chapters all to pending]. I'm truly grateful to Chamber for that.

Like I said, there were parts omitted in the conversation, and this shouldn't even be exposed at all. I think I repeated that I was unprofessional in that conversation.

Please hit me up at discord if you would have any more questions. Its really unfortunate having to involve the readers into this, and I feel like all of this is "my fault" for leaving. I can safely confirm that I won't be translating IatM at all now (I was considering it due to some readers asking in Discord) to avoid such controversy again unless some readers really make me have a change of heart. I'm usually weak to the readers, and I consider the editors I work with as family, and some of the translators (like Chamber) as a brother that helped me get into the world of translating. This has been a long day, and I don't want matters like these to make me reconsider being a translator that I love to do originally. If there are anything that has offended you or displeased you, then I will step forth and apologize. I feel that is right as a translator, and I really value those that read (whether anti or pro). Everyone has the freedom to express their opinions, and so I will respect them.

Thank you once again.

@Jeebus It's alright, I mean I'm not that angry or disappointed at all really. It's just a bit unfortunate with how all this had aggravated. I mean I enjoyed my time there along with Chamber, and I just felt it was time to move on. Thanks for the words again. I didn't want to sound rude, but I did feel a bit shocked and angry that he wasn't going to bring the chapters down. I was sure that I had the privilege (a lot of translators confirmed this with me), but he stated that that's how "business" does not work. Anyhow, thanks for posting. I appreciate it.

 

Best luck for you.

That such a dick move from kobatochandaisuki to keep i am the monarch hostage. Different from ww system, both of you didnt have the right to publish these novel anyway.

Hope you find best platform for your work.

 

Thanks for the kind words. Hoping that this new site will spare me any future troubles now. I know that I disappointed you quite a lot during that one hiatus due to university studies, so I was hoping to make amends with IatM, but sadly I can't anymore. Anyhow, I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate how you always comment on the LCDs. Thanks once again.