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Use of copyrighted material in sample translations.
Thread poster: Joshua Carmody (X)
Joshua Carmody (X)
Joshua Carmody (X)  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 02:02
Japanese to English
Jul 26, 2005

I'm interested in becoming a freelance translator, and am trying to put my first resume together. One problem that I'm facing is that since I have very little related experience (only one project so far), I don't have a very good way of demonstrating my skill to prospective clients. As a solution, I was considering just taking a difficult or techincal text from a website or publication and translating a few paragraphs as a "sample" to send with me resume. However, I'm not sure what the legal ram... See more
I'm interested in becoming a freelance translator, and am trying to put my first resume together. One problem that I'm facing is that since I have very little related experience (only one project so far), I don't have a very good way of demonstrating my skill to prospective clients. As a solution, I was considering just taking a difficult or techincal text from a website or publication and translating a few paragraphs as a "sample" to send with me resume. However, I'm not sure what the legal ramifications of doing this might be. It's likely that any work that I choose to translate will be copyrighted, and the original authors may not appreciate the republication of their material. Can anyone advise me as to what the rules might be here? If copyrighted material is taboo, can anyone suggest where I might get some good public domain Japanese source material? And is translating a sample to send to clients even a good idea? I appreciate any and all input. Thanks! ▲ Collapse
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 08:02
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Just ask permission Jul 27, 2005

Joshua Carmody wrote:
I was considering just taking a difficult or techincal text from a website or publication and translating a few paragraphs as a "sample" to send with me resume. However, I'm not sure what the legal ramifications of doing this might be.


I'm not sure either, whether it might be okay to use copyrighted material, but one thing you can do, is to ask the owner of the material if you may use it in your portfolio. Write them an e-mail, include the exact material which you want to use, tell them exactly how you would present the material in your portfolio, and ask nicely. Offer to link to their web site from your web site. Do this with several sources.

I found that some companies won't allow that, but others may be more lenient. Good luck.
 
Tsu Dho Nimh
Tsu Dho Nimh
Local time: 00:02
English
Open Source and Creative Commons Jul 27, 2005

Joshua Carmody wrote:
... suggest where I might get some good public domain Japanese source material?


Try the Japanese version of Wikipedia: it's Creative Commons licensed. If you want computer-related text, any of the Linux distros in Japanese might have what you need.
 
Joshua Carmody (X)
Joshua Carmody (X)  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 02:02
Japanese to English
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you! Jul 27, 2005

Tsu Dho Nimh wrote:

Try the Japanese version of Wikipedia: it's Creative Commons licensed. If you want computer-related text, any of the Linux distros in Japanese might have what you need.


Those are VERY good suggestions! Thanks!
 


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Use of copyrighted material in sample translations.







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