Rule 3 Addendum - Translations of Others' Works

[Specter360]

Honestly, this feels like a massive headache that just going to keep coming and coming because at the end of the days

People with different languages in different region will just do things anyway because it far easier to do so and less annoying

Mark my words, we probably be still be seeing the usual stuff

 

[Jason Wu]

Though now the potential new accounts on this site would probably leave out the its a translation disclaimer at the beginning. For a really niche fic or series it might be hard to find out...

 

[Megaolix]

So one of them IS good and the other is trash and the trashy one started screeching for intervention from the mods.

Nice.

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Nope. Neither translator were invovled in that.

 

[Otokonoko Culture]

Nope. Neither translator were invovled in that.

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Let me have the interesting internet drama in my head.

 

[magic9mushroom]

Equating copyright of a story to market monopolies? Whut?

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Uh, yes? Copyright is literally "authors get a legal monopoly on distributing their work, in order to aid monetisation".

I have a Patreon that I use to fund video essays that I research? Nothing stopping other people from taking my video essays and uploading them to their YouTube channel to make revenue from ads. Books I wrote can now be published by other parties and sold in bookstores. Digital storefronts can put up copies of my book for "pay what you want." Etc.

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You and @joesmith1999 are basically having the same general problem: you're trying to apply the conventions and business models of a world used to copyright to a world without copyright, noticing that they wouldn't work, and then saying that this is clearly unjust.

There are alternative business models that do not require copyright, and the incentives in a world without copyright are extremely different such that the exploitation you envision wouldn't work.

In order:

1) YouTube doesn't pay uploaders any significant amount of money in a copyright-free world. It certainly doesn't pay an ongoing percentage of ad revenue. Hence, this exploitation fails to get any more money than "a nominal finder's fee for doing the upload". Your Patreon quite likely does not fully fail, because people are paying for the videos' existence and only Chastity can make new Chastity videos (yes, there's a tragedy-of-the-commons problem, but it's not all that big).
2) They can manufacture physical books and sell them... but the cost of a book in a world without copyright is cost of production plus a tiny profit margin, due to competition. They get a reasonable price for the materials and for physically running a printing press (which is useful, if less glamorous than the idea side), and that's all.
3) They put up copies of your book for "pay what you want"... and get at best a fraction of a cent per download, because requiring more gets them immediately undercut by other digital storefronts. Again, no exploit for megabucks, just being paid a reasonable price for running a file-hosting service.

NB: I will grant that a copyright-free world does not permit ongoing creator revenue from works (it has to all be up-front), at least without going socialist.

 

[Ambitious]

You and @joesmith1999 are basically having the same general problem: you're trying to apply the conventions and business models of a world used to copyright to a world without copyright, noticing that they wouldn't work, and then saying that this is clearly unjust.

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Again, why are you discussing major societal change in a thread about a mostly-porn forum changing its policy on translations? This policy change is made and evaluated in the context of a capitalist economy with copyright, and this forum doesn't have the clout to change either of those; what would be a good policy in a hypothetical different society is missing the point.

 

[Dennis Simon Kenny]

Honestly, this feels like a massive headache that just going to keep coming and coming because at the end of the days

People with different languages in different region will just do things anyway because it far easier to do so and less annoying

Mark my words, we probably be still be seeing the usual stuff

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There have always been people who won't follow the rules and the mods just ban them. It's not a new scenario.

Though now the potential new accounts on this site would probably leave out the its a translation disclaimer at the beginning. For a really niche fic or series it might be hard to find out...

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Trying to subvert the rules by passing off someone else's work as one's own sounds like a good way to get an insta-ban when one gets caught and betting that one won't get caught sounds like a terrible bet to me.

 

[Chastity]

NB: I will grant that a copyright-free world does not permit ongoing creator revenue from works (it has to all be up-front), at least without going socialist.

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Yes, in a copyright free world, creators cannot make money unless they are already established, and the amount of money they can make is heavily curtailed because they can only be paid "sight unseen". This is bad, not good. People like copyright and defend it because it is a good policy (excepting infinity copyright, which is finally over). If you do not personally like it, you can release your works into the public domain.

 

[seeing_octarine]

Yes, in a copyright free world, creators cannot make money unless they are already established, and the amount of money they can make is heavily curtailed because they can only be paid "sight unseen".

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And now you're being blatantly disingenuous. No point in trying to continue further, so have fun with that. Maybe don't try to put forward such arguments in a forum where you have a commissions thread and usage of patreon/subscribestar runs rampant.

 

[Chastity]

And now you're being blatantly disingenuous. No point in trying to continue further, so have fun with that. Maybe don't try to put forward such arguments in a forum where you have a commissions thread and usage of patreon/subscribestar runs rampant.

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Yes, congrats. I also write 10k words a week to make sub-poverty-line wages. It scales like shit.

 

[Ubylkoen]

Yeah it's a weird etiquette. GRRM doesn't like fanfiction but that has never stopped the fans

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GRRM is a filthy hypocrite who have written fanfiction himself of Jaime and Tyrion Lannister going around killing of characters from other franchises, said pieces of writing still exists on his Notablog. This was done when some website or the other held a vote thing on who was the strongest. GRRM and some other authors got in on it and belted out fanfiction stuff. Thus people should disregard anything he has to say on the matter.

 

[Kinematics]

If you do not personally like it, you can release your works into the public domain.

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This may not actually be possible. It is not legally settled whether you can voluntarily release something into the public domain. It's been a while since I read about it, but it was rather legally messy, as I recall.

You can, however, use something like the Creative Commons licenses to get an approximate equivalent that is enforceable using copyright law.

 

[AztecCroc]

Is there a reason this thread is still unlocked?

It's just devolved into circular arguments about copyright at this point.