Translation copyright

June 12, 2009 @ 9:24amdrbaby says:
May I self-publish a translation of a literary work originally published over 150 years ago in France? Thanks.
June 24, 2009 @ 6:39amksmith says:
This is actually a hard question. If the term of protection for the economic rights under copyright has expired, then the work is in the public domain. Thus you are free to make and publish a translation as long as you respect the "moral rights" of the author. France recognizes perpetual moral rights, which include the right of attribution and to preserve the integrity of the work. At the very least, you must include the author's name and the original title of the work. You should also consider whether your translation is such that heirs of the author might find it to be a disparagement of the original.

It seems very likely that the work is in the public domain, as regards the economic rights, but it is impossible to be absolute sure in many cases without knowing what the work is and what the conditions of publication were.

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