Translation of W3C Copyright FAQ

Dear Mr. Kato,

I very much appreciated your past translations of W3C
specifications. Your efforts are very valuable.

However, I have just found translations of our Copyright
FAQ (at http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~bd9y-ktu/html4rec_f/IPR-FAQj.html)
and of the W3C IPR document notice (at
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~bd9y-ktu/html4rec_f/COPYDOCj.html).

Regarding these, and maybe similar documents, I have to note that:

- The Copyright FAQ gives the right to translate specifications,
   but the above documents are not specifications. You would have
   to ask explicitly for permission.

- I do not remember any mail regarding these to the w3c-translators
   mailing list from you. If I'm wrong, please tell me.

- The above documents are living documents; the translation therefore
   easily can be out of synch.

- The above documents are legal documents or close in nature to legal
   documents; translations by third parties can lead to serious problems.


I therefore ask you to:

- Make the abovementionned documents and similar documents that you may
   have translated unavailable for the public, at least until you have
   asked for permission, and this permission has been granted.

- Do likewise with any translations of similar nature that we may
   not be aware off.


In case you are asking for permission, I would expect you to at least:

- Conform to the conditions for specifications of translations.
   (in particular saying that the original is the English version
    on the W3C site, and that your translation may contain errors).

- Clearly note which date of the original document the translation
   corresponds to, and that the original may have changed in the
   meantime and the changes may be crucial. This is particularly
   important because you include the (maybe outdated) English text,
   too.

- That by the nature of these documents, readers relying only on the
   translation, or only on an old version, may get themselves into
   serious troubles.

Regards,   Martin.

#-#-#  Martin J. Du"rst, I18N Activity Lead, World Wide Web Consortium
#-#-#  mailto:duerst@w3.org   http://www.w3.org/People/D%C3%BCrst

Received on Thursday, 4 January 2001 03:16:27 UTC