How to Get Permissions From Other Bloggers For Translating Their Works
Tuesday, October 10th, 2006Did you find an interesting article in another language (let’s say french) and you feel that it’s great if your readers who don’t understand french could read this great article? And you anxiously translated the article and then, aha, you neither have permission from the original author (the great blogger) nor you gives credits to him.
According to Creative Common (CC) (yes, rule by rule), you are free “to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work” and “to make derivative works” under the condition that you give original author credit. Some even require you to get permission from the original author for you to perform any use of their works. But how do you get permission from these authors?
I had translated several great articles from several blogs, personally, I feel that email is the best thing to get in touch with other bloggers. Why email but not instant message or a telephone call?
- You don’t know their free time and you might just disturb them when they are busy.
- Your english is as bad as mine, and you couldn’t express what you want to express during conversation.
- The blogger might just ignore you.
- No log saving of your conversation, you just simply can’t prove that he allowed you for the translation service.
- You don’t know he like you or not
The good things about email is
- He can reply whenever he want.
- You can think and edit before you send.
- You have a saved copy of the email sent.
- If he ignore you, you can send another email.
So how do you send an email to a blogger to get his/her permission to translate an article?
Sample Email:
Hello, i’ve seen your post about [blah blah blah] ([url]) and i really like it. As you know, there are many japanese who don’t understand English, and I feel that it’s a pity if they can’t read this great article. I really do hope I can translate this article into Japanese so that other my Japanese readers have a chance to share this great article with me.
My blog is [url] and i do hope you can permit me to translate your article. I would link back to you and give credits to you in the translated copy. Hope you can gain me permission to translate your article.
From,
[Your name]
I always trying to be casual in email, as you know, bloggers are friendly, so do I. Praising is very important before you use one’s works. So in the earlier part of the email, praise the author. And don’t forget in between, Praise, Praise, Praise. Most bloggers would be happy to see that there is someone who really like to read their works and want to translate them into other languages, and it’s free. Most bloggers are friendly, and they don’t even bother to know whether how good are you in translation, the point is, you make them happy, they make you happy.
After you get the permission to translate the article, please remember to email them a link of your translated copy of work, and again, praise and thanks them. Do not forget to link back to them and praise them again in your translated article (just slightly) as these authors might use babelfish or google translator to see the translated copy. They might just link you back in the original article directing people who would like to read the article in other language to your blog (if they want), even if they don’t, at least they recognize your work by permitting you for translating.
Maybe some of you might think, “why bother to get permission for translation.” You might think that the original authors should be appreaciating you for translating their works, but I don’t think so. Perhaps, you think that other people are doing the same thing and why you bother to go through all the complicated process to get a permission (it’s not complicated at all, except my poor english). The good thing about internet and blogging is, it’s connecting people (this is from Nokia), and I think why don’t you try to be the same like others and making things and world better? Hehe, it’s good to have a contact with people from all around the world, no harm.
很多bloggers也许喜欢翻译文章到另外一种语言，例如英文到中文，原意是希望不会英文的人可以用其他语言来拜读到一篇好文章。可是你的好意已经触犯了Creative Common (CC)的原则了吗？
其实根据CC的做法，如果你要翻译一个人的文章的话，你一定要得到作者的同意才能做翻译并贴在你的blog里，并在译文里要注明这是原作者的作品。
其中一个blogging的美好之处就是bloggers之间的联系。你可以怎么做来得到其他bloggers的翻译认可呢？
首先，我建议的是使用email。不建议使用即时通讯的原因如下：
- 你不知其他人的得空时间，你也许会打扰到对方。
- 你的沟通能力有问题，不能表达出你的想法。
- 那个blogger也许会不理你。
- 你没聊天备份，对方可能翻脸不认账。
- 你的聊天语气也许对方不喜欢。
电邮有什么好处呢？
- 让对方可以在空闲时间回复你。
- 你可以拟订你要讲的内容。
- 你有个备份。
- 如果对方没回音，可以继续电邮他。
你的电邮内容该是怎样才能顺利地得到对方的翻译批准呢？
例子：
嗨，我最近拜读了你的[文章标题] （[网址]），我很喜欢。我希望能够把这篇文章翻译去英文，因为我的读者群很多都不会中文，这样子的话，他们就有幸能够分享到这篇好文章。
我的blog是[网址]，希望能得到批准翻译这篇文章。我将会在文中链接回给你，并说明这是你的作品。希望能得到你的回复允许我翻译这篇文章。
[名字]
其实呢，bloggers都喜欢听到赞赏的。电邮当中你可以不断地称赞对方，让对方高兴就好。大多bloggers都很友善的，他们通常都会同意让你翻译他们的文章（即使他们不懂翻译得好不好）。在翻译过后务必要记得电邮给作者翻译文章的网址，这样给对方有个交待，搞不好作者还会在他的blog链接给你。
或许你认为做么要做这么麻烦的事？直接翻译就好。其实呢，一方面是遵守CC条约，另外一方面是避免日后可能发生的纠纷。还有，不要因为其他bloggers没有这么做你就不要这么做。你为何不能端正自己，做一个有道德的blogger呢？别人不做不代表你不能够做。
