Being a new translator, I've often worried that problems could arise in the future regarding copyright issues. How often do they occur? Should I be worried? And if they do occur and suing enters the equation, how much could it potentially affect my life? I'm a naturally paranoid person and would like to know the downsides before fully immersing myself in the translating world.
Just stop if any C&D arrived if you want to lower your risk. Also if there is an official translation, stop.
I don't think copyright issues will arise if you can obtain the raws from an official site for free. For reference, I only translate WN from syosetu.
As long as you live in a different country it doesnt matter. Interpol wont chase you down with some petty copyright issues from a light novel. The best the author or publisher can do is ask you to take your work down from the net. What language are you translating from?
Don't worry, anything that unable to OTK or OHKO you will make you stronger So, if you got a lot of copyright issue you will develop some resistance and maybe can evolve into immunity (in case you're not caught)
Nah. Not unless you try to make money out of it. Like, selling chapters. If it is just translating for fun, odds are that it will be just a cease and desist note. I wouldn't touch Webnovel's novels though. They are pretty interested in the translation industry and they routinely wipe out foreign translations. As far as I know, no one has received a lawsuit so far.
A case of copyright infringement happens every minute across America join lifelock now to protect yourself
Some of the succesfully completed korean novel translation project I have seen are running a different model. They are not selling per chapter but are translating X number of chapters a week and donations determines the "bonus" chapter that will be released.
As long as you avoid webnovel altogether, stay away from already licensed stuff and avoid 'selling' chapters, then you should be fine.
Basically avoid webnovel titles, otherwise you'll be fine and also make sure to check on this site if there is already is a translator (or if they haven't posted within 3 months you'll be fine as well)
To add to others' comment about webnovel, webnovel is also partnered with that korean novel publisher, which I forgot the name. So that is something to avoid too, @Bibliophile Society.
What happened to me a couple of times was either the author or publisher would e-mail me to stop. I would then delete everything, and everyone is happy. It is expensive to go to court, so unless you're really ripping them off and profiting, they would most likely just forcefully tell you to stop and try to scare you.
If your in China, translating Japanese > English probably won't do any thing to you even it is licensed. If you have a private host like mangadex.com (not Aggregators links) which are strong in ignore those claims your work won't be taken down like those in wordpress.com. For printed books like those big publishers. There is likely less/no English license company, which is safe. If there is, change the name. Let say, huawei's winter is licensed. Just change the title to huawei's ice age. They will have hard time to submit a claim as the title they license is different.
I think you meant "if" instead of unless. If it's available for free, then no one's ability to earn money is threatened so little to no copyright issues. To expand more on the avoid Webnovel thing, just try avoiding all 阅文 (parent company) sites when looking for a project. Chances are high that their English site has access to more than just qd.
Out of several title you want to TL you might want to stay away from KFN the most. Shanda (before become China Reading / Yuewen) signed Vivibear for publishing that (after her plagiarism goes viral worldwide). QI also have the comic version on their site so the chance they gonna send "join us as slave or we DMCA" letter are very high.
Just stop translating and take everything down if you get a Cease & Desist Letter and you'll be fine. No one is going to sue you right off the bat because it's not worth the legal fees. You'll also be much less likely to get in any substantial legal trouble if you don't profit off the translation (e.g., if you don't charge money for chapters). If you don't make a profit, then you haven't been unjustly enriched. If you haven't been unjustly enriched, it'll be difficult for publishers to prove damages, and no damages = no torts case. Receiving donations for translating is a grey line that can be argued either way, and it's up to you if you want to toe it. Keep in mind that all of this will also depend on jurisdiction (i.e., where you are and/or where the publisher is suing from) and governing law (i.e., which state's/country's law will be applied).
What about if the author write on novel summary stated no reposting on other platform or something, does that mean I shouldn't translate it? I plan to Chinese to English TL
That's for Chinese only. Contact the author and ask them nicely. Some authors don't feel comfortable to say yes, because they feel that people can use their words against them, aka "you said that I can translate, imma gonna sue your ass for the wasting of my effort."
Idk how to contact them, so I write in the disclaimer if they don't want me to continue TL, they can drop a pm or comment. Naturally I always put the link to the raws.