Translation and Copyright

Iranian Publishers’ Views on the Results of Non-compliance with the Copyright Law in Iran on the Quality and Quantity of Translation Work

Abstract

Translation and copyright law and their relationship is the subject of many discussions among translation studies researchers. One of the reasons is that the translation of foreign works is subject to the permission of the author of the source text and the unequal power relations between the author and the translator, which has provoked the objection of some translation experts, including Venuti. He has called for major changes in copyright law in favor of translations and translators; so that, the source text can be freely translated after a short period of time without the permission of the author. Venuti's idea is currently being practiced in Iran. Foreign texts are translated and printed in the country without the permission of the original publisher. This study has investigated the impact of the lack of copyright law on the quality and quantity of translation work from the point of view of Iranian publishers based onVenuti’ framework. In this regard, an interview was conducted with twenty-three prominent publishers of the country from five metropolitan cities, and their opinions about non-compliance with the copyright law in Iran on the quality and quantity of translation work were examined using Strauss and Corbin’s Grounded theory. The findings indicate that publishers' haste to translate and publish best-selling works have led to poor translations in many cases, and the phenomenon of parallel work and book production has followed. However, there are few publishers who consider themselves committed to complying with the copyright law for moral reasons.

Keywords: Book making, Book marketing, Copyright law, Parallel translation, Translation