Discussion stealing translations?

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by ColdKarma, Jan 7, 2022.

  1. ColdKarma

    ColdKarma Member

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    so earlier i went on NU and found a novel that looked interesting
    i searched its name on google and instead of the actual translators website the first link i found was one of that website(i think you know which one). They literately spend they're days stealing others translations and putting them on their website without giving them any credit whatsoever. Isn't this a problem and why does no one seem to care?
     
  2. Robbini

    Robbini Logical? Illogical? Random? Or Just Unique?

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    Unless the translators have an actual agreement with the author / publishers that it's okay for them to translated or something similar, what ... legitimacy do you think they could use to somehow get others to stop ?

    Morally, 'stealing' translations is bad for most people sure.
    But legally ? This entire thing is a grey zone. If the authors, publishers, rights owners etc. ask or demand that anyone stop translating as a request or as a threat, many will do it to some degree.
    But fan translators ? Legally, no way. Other ways, maybe. But it'l take effort, and they could probably replace the sites within a brief time and it might start a conflict which will take too much time and effort.

    And well, some sites do something that prevent readers from just copying the text outright, others insert text watermarks here and there which they don't bother to remove for some reason.
     
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  3. CardOne4All

    CardOne4All Well-Known Member

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    It’s kinda pointless to care for them since there are so many of them. Aggregator sites are as common as the sand on the beach.
     
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  4. nonononononono

    nonononononono NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO

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    Even the big site like webnovel can't stop aggregator sites, what do you expect fanslators to do?
     
  5. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    It's impossible to defeat pirates, so every sane person has already given up on this fight.

    Sure, you can take legal action against them... But by the time the legal action has been solved, there will be 10 more pirate websites doing the same thing.

    It's just not worth the effort to try taking the pirates down, and it won't change anything even if you do succeed, so... The best course of action is to ignore them and move on with your life while pretending they don't exist.

    This doesn't apply just to illegal novel translations, but also to manga translations (both legal and illegal), legal novel translations, movies, anime, art, songs and whatever else you can think of... Nobody cares about the issue because it's a fight that can't be won, so it's not worth fighting it.
     
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  6. Hazery

    Hazery Missing Member

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    Same thing as manga aggregator site, i bet a lot of people here who read a manga do so in an aggregator site instead of the fan site.

    Also, while it's not really right for an aggregator site to steal a translation, they are a godsend if somehow old translation in some fan website have been wiped out and you can't access the website to read the chapter they were translating, for example try finding the old chapter of Shinka no Mi and The Amber Sword, the only place to read the past chapter is only at Aggregator site...

    And besides, why bother? Shutting down one aggregator site will give birth to a thousand other aggregator site tbh
     
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  7. UnGrave

    UnGrave ななひ~^^

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    Personally I advocate for translators to stop caring about aggregators. Unless you have some kind of contract that stipulates you protect your translation, it's almost entirely useless to fight them. Plus, aggregators work well as a sort of archival service for translations, given a lot of small translation sites go down at some point. Almost any feature I've seen translators implement to stop aggregators from copying their work has overall lowered the user experience for readers on their own site.
     
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  8. Deleted member 314196

    Deleted member 314196 Guest

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    Isn't that what Fan-Translators are to Authors? We don't really have a right to complain when we aren't doing it legally either. Besides, they're not a bad thing when translators decides to delete their sites~

    Edit: That first tag :blobjoy:
     
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  9. Parth37955

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

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    It's done by bots. No time investment on their end.
     
  10. Westeller

    Westeller Smokin' Sexy Style!! Staff Member

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    It's not that no one cares. A lot of people care very much, in fact. Translators often post announcements about this or that aggregator stealing their work and sometimes even stop translating altogether. The problem, though, is that these sites are essentially untouchable, and getting rid of one would just see a dozen more take its place. There is nothing to be done. You cannot stop people from sharing things online, and you cannot stop the worst of them from finding a way to profit from it. The best way to handle them, then, is to simply ignore them, and accept them as a consequence of the internet.

    The worst thing to do is try to fight them, honestly. So many translators get wrapped up in trying to make their translations unstealable. Never succeeding (not for long, anyway), and making it infinitely more difficult, inconvenient and downright impossible for legitimate readers to access their work. It's a self-defeating battle.

    We can, however, at least limit their exposure. Such as by not naming or linking to them on the forums.
     
  11. Dahna

    Dahna (-, – )…zzzZZZ

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    It would be best if you asked the fan translators where they get their raw first, though. Many of them get raw from pirate sites and/or translate without permission from the right holder. Yes, they do give the effort to translate a novel, but do they have the right to translate it in the first place? If they don't, fighting other pirate sites is pointless because they aren't right from the beginning.

    Also, will they have enough money and time on these no-end things even if the translation is legit? IP disputes such as copyright infringement take years and countless cash to solve.

    So the best solution, ignore those pirate sites. :blob_catflip:
     
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  12. Skith

    Skith Active Member

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    The best action you can do as of now is to just ignore it...
    Or you'll go to a long battle, where you can't even see the end.