General Breakdown of Rights

So many people seem to be getting confused over the publishing rights, translating rights, and translation rights.
Yes. The right to translate (and publish) and the rights of the translation are different things altogether.
So...

• The Author holds the rights to the original story. Basically, they have full control.
• However, in cases where the rights of the original work has been sold, such as with Qidian and its authors (they get paid by the word), the rights of the original work belong to Qidian. Now Qidian, and by extension QI, has full control.
• This [full control] includes the right to translation. Qidian has the authorization to dictate whoever should or should not be translating the work and redistributing it (redistribution is the most key part here, not the act of translation), whether through its own platforms or otherwise. This is the right that Qidian has that most translators in the community haven't really followed, since they own the original works.

Regardless...

• Translation rights, different from the rights of translations, belong to the translator alone. The translation may be a derivative work, but it is theirs, and theirs only. No-one else, no matter who has the original rights. The work belongs to neither the publishing house nor the author, even if they insist it is.
• This is the right that QI has been infringing upon. QI has the right to ask translators to cease and desist from translating works under them, as the original rights belong to them and thus they have control over who translates and posts it, posting being the most crucial part of the matter.
• However, QI does not have any right to touch the work of the translators as they have been doing. Even if the original belongs to them, taking the works of the translators is still illegal. If they want to host translations of the work, it (supposedly) has to be redone from scratch, no exceptions.

I hope this clears some things up...
Edit: Read here for more- http://translationista.com/2017/02/getting-rights-translate-work.html and http://2seasagency.com/translators-rights-payments/ , though beware the amount of exposition. By no means am I a professional, but taking time to read up on the issue does wonders.
Note: 'Right to translate' refers more towards posting/publishing translations, and less the action itself. Private translations aren't an issue at all--things start getting messy when money gets involved.
----
General timeline:
- QI arrives: Qidian International Website 1.0 and Android App are available now!
- QI starts recruiting: WE WANT YOU! Welcome to join Qidian "Translator ＆ Editor" incubator
- And then this happened: Licensing Issues of Wuxiaworld
- Dispelling the Fiction of Wuxiaworld's "Headhunting"
- SO came the response: Wuxiaworld Official Response to Qidian's Libelous Claims
- Thus the reply was ignored in favour of: Qidian's Announcement
- Due to that: volare Halts: PtW, EEWC, HM, CCG, GDK
- Along came another issue--a whole bunch of novels left GT: GT, 17k, and Zongheng megamerge thread It already happened much earlier in the year: Why has most of gravity tales novel move to Wuxiaworld
- *Dual hosting*, yeah...: Qidian Dual-hosting Wuxiaworld Novels
- So...: What really happened during the Gravity Tales migration
- Reverend Insanity: Dual translation?
-Here's the mothership: Gravity Tales and QI --- Mega-merge Thread and the Korean novels: Gravity tales missing korean novels? and another: Opinions on Qidian Mega-merge thread 2.0 - All future Qidian Opinion Threads Will Go Here
- QI Poaching CCG Oct 1
- Qi & Volare-merged threads. Nov 8
- This turns up too: When will Volarenovels stop copyright infringement?
- Qidian 1up lotustranslations with 100% Sweet Love: The Delinquent XXX Wife Is a Bit Sweet? Dec 27. Never would have found this without @cequ. Look through all their posts, you'll understand why immediately.
Add all the above to the happenings that have occurred this year (2018), plus a little more.
And now for some hilarity: https://www.reddit.com/r/noveltrans..._all_the_new_people_in_regards_of_this_drama/ and https://www.reddit.com/r/noveltrans..._all_the_new_people_in_regards_of_this_drama/

 

I thought most people would have the common sense to rationalise this, I was wrong. Still, it doesn't change the fact that this is well written and informative, thanks for explaining

 

Yes!

To all those people who haven't read enough of the threads on QI here.

This is a big part of why (i) we hate them. Plus all the other things they have done.

 

I already wrote about this here: http://forum.novelupdates.com/threads/qi-volare-merged-threads.51702/page-11#post-3341455

Like I said, it depends on where you live/pursue legal action.

 

Yes, Qidian can ask people to stop translating and even to take down their translations but they can't take the translator's work.

 

I also believe there are 2 types of laws that are considering author laws according to country. Ones that say that author laws are non transferable aside from publishing atd and opposite

I'm on mobile and 2 years from my law lessons so about 60% sure about this

P.S My brain do not English now. Excuse me for that.

 

Anywhere in there showing that it would (should) be illegal to make any money off of translations made if you do not have the rights of translation. Considering they are making money off of something they shouldn't be.

I've seen people saying "But they can't take their work" shit also just happens to work the other way around, qutie funny wouldn't you say.

 

I have this crazy theory (which I believe I'm wrong) about why qi never really bring this DMCA case on the court and attacks the site on novel community.

China as one of the egotistical country which ban many information for the public has made an enemy called Google, which is the one who use the DMCA strike on any of the site they give you. so qi as China's big publisher can't use the law that was not their country used. also I don't know if there's a copyright laws on China but, I think it won't work outside China. so qi can't use the court to get use this case.

also if anybody can tell I'm wrong please tell me.

 

Globalization fucks up all the rules. We need a Global Copyrights Organization, GCO for short.

To put standarized rules that work wherever you may be.

 

Fuckin Qiadian Bastards!
You mean they're just outright taking the already translated works of others and calling them their own!

 

I see.. but I don't see any any sources, then again i guess mods will take that out.
and by the number of time qi is mentioned, polymorph again i guess.

 

... there already is one. It's called the World Intellectual Property Organization. Except like most international laws, countries choose which rules benefit them and ignore others when it doesn't.

 

Stealing is illigal unless it's qidian doing it - qidian logic

 

Just Google it.

It's there. People simply don't care to know and search for it until it's given unto them.

 

It's actually not there, because there's very little regarding the rights of unauthorized derivative works. However, there are a number of precedents where the original copyright owner can make use of the unauthorized works without repercussions

see: Anderson v. Stallone, 11 USPQ2D 1161 (C.D. Cal. 1989) or Sobhani v. @Radical.Media Inc., 257 F.Supp.2d 1234 (C.D.Cal. 2003)

 

Thanks for clearing that up (I kinda took that as a given )
Maybe it needs more clarity....

 

That's your big Gotcha?

That's why companies send DMCA's and Cease and Desist orders. Which they have every right to since they own the rights to said work.
But your big Gotcha does nothing about the laws that Qidian has broken.

You can translate anything you want. But you can't publish it or sell it.
Even if you did this. Published a work you don't own and made a shit ton of money off it, Qidian still would have 0 legal right to post the chapters which you translated.

You making money of something you don't own doesn't give the other guy the right to break the law and make money of something you own.

 

sorry, i have to disagree on this one

on paper, China actually has a quite strict rule about copyright. But like most authoritarian state, the local government are extremely corrupted. So they enforce the strict rule very LOOSELY, unless the people on the top ask them to do so

I give you 1 example: www.lightnovel.cn. it is a JP -> CN translation site, for years it translate JP light novel. To be fair, because of webnovel, light novel is not very popular in China, still it has enough reader for keeping this site running) .

It also charge money for additional reading. So it is basically chinese version of WW

This keeps for years, until Tencent (yes, Qidian's grandfather) bought a lot of JP light novel license. Then, the website get almost shutdown, the management team were arrested according the law and now it is a dead website

As a programmer, Tencent works like the Microsoft in the 90s, they play for win. And will do anything to kill competitor.