copyright on translation: Can I post it in Internet for free ?

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  • The author lives in Russia. He is extremely influentual person, extremely popular author and teacher with millions of followers. It seems to me that every, EVERY family in Russia has a set of his books and reads them frequently. I translated one of his major books and received copyright on it. I want English speaking people to benefit from the knowledge this Man brings to the world. ... BUT... He does not answer to my letters, does not communicate with the publishers who are ready to publish my translation and in respond to my questions in the most recent book he specifically points out that he does not allow any translations to be published whether for profit or for free.
    Is there any way to give people an access to my translation through Internet ? How big punishment will I have for that ?
  • If the author owns the rights and does not want translations made available, under American copyright, you can't do this. One of the rights a copyright owner holds in the US is the right to allow translations. The only other thing I might suggest is contacting HIS Russian publisher. But since he has specifically forbidden publishing translations, you would run a very big risk if you posted a translation on the internet against his wishes.
  • Dear JanetCroft !
    Thank you for your answer. It is sad that it will take a 100 of years to have HIS work in the public domain. Nobody will need it at that time. His work is really amazing. It is important for all of us today, now. What punishment will I have if I will publish translation in internet for free without his permission? His Russian publisher does not want to communicate at all.
    Thank you again Have a great weekend
  • Only an international copyright lawyer could tell you exactly what risk you will run. If you really want to go ahead with this project against the wishes of the author, you really need to talk to a lawyer.

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