Forum:From Japan

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I’m a contributor to the Japanese online Uncyclopedia (and my occupation is a translator; but not good at English writing). I’m impressed with the English Uncyclopedia and am thinking about writing a book that draws from it. That book would contain articles translated or adapted from the English Uncyclopedia. For this, I think it would be necessary for the publisher (in Japan) and a representative of the website to make an agreement on translation and adaptation rights. In any case, I would need permission to translate some articles from the website. Whom should I contact as a first step? --Suztak 07:27, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

All works here are available under CC-BY-NC-SA 2.0. That means that you can already translate and publish works here, but that you cannot do it commercially (for profit) and that you must attribute the work to its authors. For other purposes you must individually re-license each article you use from its authors. Uncyclopedia itself cannot negotiate and changes in these terms. ---Rev. Isra (talk) 08:44, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Didn't we have some discussion about this kind of thing before, and decided it would create a major hassle? *too lazy to search through the forum archives* -- Sir Codeine K·H·P·B·M·N·C·U·Bu. · (Harangue) 10:05, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Yes, we did. I like the idea myself and would give permission for the people of Japan to read translated versions of my articles. -- Hindleyite Converse • ?pedia 11:36, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

EDIT: not that anyone in Japan would want to read about cricket, Tescos or Argos, but still. -- Hindleyite Converse • ?pedia 11:40, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

It would have to be a case-by-case basis per article, with all authors who led to the final product having to give permission for it to be allowed to be translated/published, etc. That having been said...--<<>> 14:07, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Signup to allow a Japanese publisher to produce your translated works, for commerical use, for all your work at Uncyclopedia up to and including Jan 1, 2007. This involves giving up all rights to your works up to this date, with the exclusion being that your username must be cited as the source of the material.

• I would also be willing to allow anyone to translate my works on Uncycloepdia's mainspace up to Jan 1, 2007 into any language other than English for publication, with the exclusion being that my username must be cited as the source, of course.--<<>> 14:07, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Signup to have said publishers pay you large royalties for a non-exclusive agreement to publish your masterpieces

• Guffawing Crow (guff) 14:55, 11 January 2007 (UTC)
• Publication of works of which I am "primary author" (as defined in the Free Writer's Authorial Principle, hencetofore FWAP) must be individually negotiated with myself. Hint: negotiations have a better chance of success if the negotiators bring a penguin, panda, or pangolin with them to aid in the mechanics of the FWAP. Talk to me, baby. We can do a movie of Black Hole of Calcutta, it could smash the box office records in Dusty Tickbush.----OEJ 15:12, 11 January 2007 (UTC)
• I request one million Yen and a Geisha for each of my articles. --Composure1 15:21, 11 January 2007 (UTC)
• I'd like 2 cookies for each article. -Kjhf!- (feeling chatty?) 16:03, 11 January 2007 (UTC)
• I dunno about 'large' royalties, but I want a piece of the pie! --User:Nintendorulez 22:22, 11 January 2007 (UTC)
• Hell yeah - David Gerard 14:43, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Thank you for the active discussion. As a minor contributor to the Japanese Uncyclopedia (as well as to the Japanese Wikipedia), I know it won’t be easy to publish such book. Assuming that it would be okay to translate or adapt articles from the English Uncyclopedia, the proceeds from book sales wouldn’t even cover the hard work of translatinos. The market for books, unlike that for comics, in Japan is not big and the number of potential readers is unfortunately small. However, would be wonderful if such book could be brought out. Japanese people show a chronic lack of humor. The following suggestions are just ideas. 1) I make a donation to the English Uncyclopedia (for example $2,500) in exchange for comprehensive translation rights (this might not be considered a donation...). You use this money to develop the English Uncyclopedia such by awarding prizes to the top ten contributors of the year. Or, 2) I list articles to be translated. The main author of each article would price the translation rights. If I agreed to that price, I would remit money to by PayPal. Suggestion #1 is simpler and less prone to problems. --Suztak 06:53, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

I know that Creative Commons was certainly intended to be usable. I would suggest seeing if you can talk with someone at Wikia, because they may have lawyers who could figure out a way for you to publish the book without re-licensing content, as long as your goal is to publish, rather than to profit. I believe that content that originates on the Japanese Uncyclopedia also has a less restrictive license than stuff you translate from us, or that they translate from us. ---Rev. Isra (talk) 07:18, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

And to reiterate from above, Uncyclopedia does not have the legal ability to bestow comprehensive translation rights. But I think that if you were going to give a donation, the community might be able to help you do some of the leg-work required to get permission to publish individual articles.---Rev. Isra (talk) 07:24, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Please send all donations to my *cough* Uncyclopedia's Swiss bank account #154453-23253-3243253. --Composure1 14:41, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Or my their other account, at your local Woopyburger drivethrough. Ask for Mr. Woopyburger.--Sir Modusoperandi ^Boinc! 14:55, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

• In all seriousness, if you're going to go through with this, the only way to do it is Option #2. Financial reward for the best articles (outside of PLS) would be disruptive to website. The Top 10 of the year voting system is imperfect, and even if it were flawless, lots of good articles would be left out. And anyway, the money forwarded to Wikia would be used to reward future articles, not the work that was deemed worthy of publication. With all due respect, Suztak, I would be deeply troubled if Wikia and a third party made money off our pieces and the major contributors didn't see a dime. The best articles have a lot of work put into them, and those who put in the work should be paid for it if there's money to be made.--Procopius 16:19, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

I think so, too. Unless a more favorable idea is proposed in near future, I’d like to adopt the Suggestion #2 (i.e.: I’ll pay the main authors for the translation rights those articles of theirs that I choose). By the way, I have a lot of things to do before publication:

1. I’ll confer with an editor on the book project (number of pages, number of copies, timetable for publication, etc).
2. I’ll browse about 21,000 articles (!) in the English Uncyclopedia and select those to be translated.
3. I’ll list the selected articles on this forum. The main authors will price the translation rights. If I agreed to the price, I will remit money by PayPal. Since I’m neither Tom Clancy nor Michael Crichton, I cannot receive an advance from the publisher. Please understand that the money will need to be remitted some time after publication. (I’ll become poorer while I work on the translation.)

It may not be until this spring when I can start translation. If you have any comment on this, please feel free to write it. Any useful ideas are welcome.--Suztak 06:41, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

If you really can pull this off, it would be great. Good luck in getting things arranged and in reading all 21,000 Uncyc articles. Or, if you don't feel like doing that, feel free to dip into my articles, for which I give permission for you to translate and publish. That is, should you wish to do so.
Wait a sec, didn't I already say this once? Meh. -- Hindleyite Converse • ?pedia 17:40, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

/me staples Scarlet W to Hindleyite's jammies.--Sir Modusoperandi ^Boinc! 18:07, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

• I wouldn't imagine jokes from one language would translate well into another, also there are the many, many pop culture references that would only be registered by Westerners. --CrabPope 19:48, 15 January 2007 (UTC)