How much do popular translators earn?

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by Lyase, Jun 29, 2016.

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  1. blueskyhigh

    blueskyhigh Active Member

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    I hope you know that MGA from wuxiaworld .
    Wow, you're not the sharpest pencil in the box are you? MGA from wuxiaworld is published on ebook, it is considered "official". The translators at wuxiaworld get paid a wage apart from donations so they are considered "official". Gravity translators get paid a wage from the ad revenue, xianxiaworld pays translators a direct amount per chapter, as well as some other sites that pay their translators. And if they've gotten permission from the author, that means translation is a legitimate business for them.
     
  2. xTachibana

    xTachibana Wincest King

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    sigh


    I'll give you 1. Flowerbridgetoo received permission from the author to officially translate MGA and sell it as an ebook on amazon....what about the other 10~ novels on WW?


    what do you mean they get paid "wages"? do they get paid hourly or salary like professional translators? or do they receive a proportion of the ad wages?

    XXW pays their translators a flat(?) amount per chapter? excellent, now we're starting to get towards legitimate business here.


    question now is, are these sites filed as business' in their country of origin? do they pay taxes like a business does? also, did they file any paperwork that may be necessary to legally sell copyrighted material? (might not need much or any, I'm not sure how chinese copyright law deals with this)


    I see that wuxiaworld limited is filed as a HK based company, I think that's the right one so thats 2 points for you? or at least 1.x

    while I'm at it, I'm aware of 1 person translating a JP novel that received permission to translate a novel, that is clown who TLs slime, but copyright is tougher in japan, so they'd probably have to go through the JP publisher to be able to sell the works in the US.
     
    Last edited: Jul 2, 2016
  3. InnerVoice

    InnerVoice Well-Known Voice

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    Why are you asking us? Ask them!
     
  4. blueskyhigh

    blueskyhigh Active Member

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    I know for a fact that ww and gravity translators get paid a portion of the ad revenue. And just because a translation is not on the ebook doesnt mean its not the translator's copyrighted work. In fact, even the author would be in violation of copy right if he/she uses the translator's work without permission. So now we have that established, I think we can take any sites that pay translators outside of donations and have permission from the author out of the equation. It sure was a "fact" without doing any research right?

    And did you know that basically every site with ads have to pay taxes?
     
  5. xTachibana

    xTachibana Wincest King

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    lets start from the top

    1. you don't NEED to publish it in that format, but you do need to have a copyright license for it to be considered your own work, otherwise its either in a gray area or under fair use. (fair use being a gray area since they make money off of it?)

    2. i dunno about that...from a legal standpoint, translators aren't even allowed to translate novels. (without express permission from the author and their publishing companies)

    3. even if we take those out, CN novels STILL earn more. jesus I sound like a broken record, this is like the 4th time I've said this right?

    4. there is a difference between paying taxes as an individual and paying taxes as a company, go figure. also, tax evasion is a thing. (ie, they don't report their donations)
     
  6. blueskyhigh

    blueskyhigh Active Member

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    You keep saying chinese novels earn more without any statistical evidence, especially with taking thise aforementioned sites out of the equation. (And also any sites that have permission from the author)

    Also, it's not the individual paying taxes anymore when the site contains the works of 2 or more people. It becomes a business

    You may be 100% right on this, but stating something as a fact without knowing even the most basic of details is quite stupid.
     
  7. Westeller

    Westeller Smokin' Sexy Style!! Staff Member

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    Hey, this is kinda wrong, y'know? Your work is automatically protected by copyright upon creation.

    It's part of international copyright treaties. Or something like that, who knows~ Ask a lawyer~
     
  8. xTachibana

    xTachibana Wincest King

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    its a gray area because it's questionable if it can be considered YOUR work if you just translated copyrighted material and it doesn't fall under fair use. I'm too lazy to look up examples but I don't think there's too much precedence in this field.
     
  9. xTachibana

    xTachibana Wincest King

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    .....they receive more traffic, do you agree with this? yes? then they earn more through ads, and they definitely earn more from donations (you can observe their donation bar for a long period of time to tell...)

    no? then go to the sites and see how many page views they have and compare, I'm not gonna sit here and pick 10 chinese and 10 japanese sites and compare their numbers :v

    no, it doesn't matter if its a group of people paying taxes....business (the owners) have to file a different type of tax form than normal employee's do, what, do you think that any group of people working together is a business? that's not how that works lol
     
  10. Azusky

    Azusky Gazing At Moonlight | 50 Shades of Blue

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    Master Of Cuteness gets the most money
     
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  11. blueskyhigh

    blueskyhigh Active Member

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    You obviously have no idea how ad revenue works then. As a adsense user myself, I know websites can register themselves as a business. All you have to do is check the "business" box instead of the "individual".

    And If you take yen press out of the equation, you must do it to ALL sites that have permissions.
     
  12. Fragments of Shadows

    Fragments of Shadows [The Broken One] [Chaser of Tales] [Hungry Ghost]

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    Generally speaking the more money you're earning off a non-authorized translated work the more illegal it is. At least in the US court system copyright violations are weighed against several factors (4 with three of those being economic in nature) with one of those factors being total revenue earned off the work in question (since that revenue can be used as an example of exploitation of a work). Because translated works fall into a very dark grey legal zone where there is a huge question of just how "transformative" it is to take the original work and reword it so you can generally assume that the more money/fame you earn the more likely you are to be judged as doing something illegal. Again that's just in the US and a lot of translators are outside of the US though I think most countries with trade agreements have something similar if not stricter in terms of copyright protection.

    That being said it's also generally accepted that the original author has copyright protection from the moment of their work's creation even if they haven't officially filed for a copyright license. It's just that you're unlikely to be able to use those copyright protections aggressively without the license (in other words those protections are mainly defensive in nature so if someone tries to sue you in court because your totally original work is illegal somehow and you can conclusively prove that it is original, yours, and not illegal then even if you don't have the license you are still protected). Again that's in the US since I'm not familiar with the copyright protections of other countries.
     
  13. xTachibana

    xTachibana Wincest King

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    .....I...I don't even know how to reply to this comment..... @Parth37955 halp
     
  14. xTachibana

    xTachibana Wincest King

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    TLDR: it's in a gray area and we're not really sure if it can be considered your own work, but the more money/fame you make from it, the more likely the US court system would rule against you. (and mostly japan and most of europe as well)

    Is that about right?
     
  15. blueskyhigh

    blueskyhigh Active Member

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    Please don't >·<
     
  16. Westeller

    Westeller Smokin' Sexy Style!! Staff Member

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    I don't think it's a gray area at all. If you made it, even if it's derivative without the original copyright holder's permission, it is yours. Period. It is protected the same as the original content is. Whether or not you are infringing upon the original copyright is a completely separate legal issue. That is, the author can sue you for damages, but your translation is still protected by copyright of its own, and you can in turn sue anyone who abuses it. Even the original author, if that happened for any reason.

    The words "fair use" are also not applicable anywhere near as often as they get swung around. It's actually a fairly strict category, and translations are not a part of it. At all.
     
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  17. xTachibana

    xTachibana Wincest King

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    you're right, i misspoke. its actually not in a gray area, it's illegal.

    "Subject to sections 107 through 122, the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following:
    (2) to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;"
    source:U.S. Code 17 § 106

    obviously, this only means that it's illegal on paper, none of this actually means you'd actually get sued, especially not in the case with chinese authors.


    ah, but it might be a gray area if you make it into your own work like how the TLer for "the amber sword" does. simply translating it illegally doesn't make it your own work....this is all hypothetical based on paper law since none of these things have precedence afaik.
     
    Last edited: Jul 3, 2016
  18. Parth37955

    Parth37955 NU #3, [Dead Inside], Mid-Boss, Dark Dealer Staff Member

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    Uh, the current trend favors Chinese novels right? It's fair to assume that CN sites receive more viewer considering the current trends.
    @blueskyhigh I can't even reply to what you said. Don't understand it. From what I'm getting, simply registering yourself as a business on a site...doesn't make it a business.
     
    Last edited: Jul 3, 2016
  19. Westeller

    Westeller Smokin' Sexy Style!! Staff Member

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    I meant that the copyright itself wasn't a gray area. If you translate without the copyright holder's permission, they CAN claim damages against you for the creation of a derivative work (translation). However, the translation is still something you created. It IS protected under copyright law, and even the original copyright holder can't use it as they wish. It's yours.

    and yeah, lol. Chinese authors... copyright law... such strange things to mention in the same sentence.
     
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  20. xTachibana

    xTachibana Wincest King

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    well, I did mention that part about chinese copyright law.

    luckily, the main part of the argument was actually about JP novels, you just have to read the entire 10+ comment chain to figure it out :3

    to be exact, it was about JP novels being more popular than CN ones, and therefore somehow earning more according to blueskyhigh, which is basically the opposite of reality. I don't even remember how we got into copyright...
     
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