The specific points of this discussion and of the Model Contract apply primarily to the translation of belletristic prose. No standard guidelines exist for the translation of poetry. The translation of drama, whether translation or adaptation, whether for the stage, the printed page, or both, is always a complicated matter, involving more parties than translator and publisher. (The Translators Association in London has developed a "Code of Practice for Theatre Translations and Adaptations"; see Selected Resources for the Association's address.) Nonetheless, in all cases and for all genres, the experienced or proven translator will be in a better position to negotiate than the novice.

What Do You Want?
Do you want to own the copyright in the translation, or would you agree to the terms of a work-for-hire contract?

Copyright
Since the first PEN Model Contract was published in 1981, it has become more common for U.S. publishers to copyright the translation in the name of the translator and sometimes to give the translator a percentage of royalties and subsidiary-rights income.

Retaining the copyright in the translation (and assigning that copyright to the publisher for whatever term is agreed on in the contract), although a derivative right (one that depends on the copyright in the original work), can benefit the translator in several ways. It provides recognition for the translator's work as collaborator and author. It can afford additional protection and continuing control over the work if and when subsequent editions appear. It places the rights to the translation back in the translator's hands when the term specified in the contract ends, or—more usually—when the book goes out of print, or if the publisher goes out of business.

Work for Hire
Since June 1989, the work-for-hire laws, as they pertain to creative works, are being reinterpreted by the courts and by Congress. In the past a work-for-hire agreement tended to give the translator a higher flat fee but no royalties, no share in subsidiary rights income, and no control over subsequent editions of a work. The legal status of work for hire is still evolving. The old assumptions can no longer be made. Work-for-hire contracts between translators and publishers must be extremely explicit about the terms of the employment agreement; naturally, these are open to negotiation. Although under such agreements the publisher is designated as the copyright holder, this in no way precludes the possibility of further payments to the translator beyond the initial flat fee.

For additional information on determining the basis of further payment, or other kinds of payment—including royalties and subsidiary rights—see the Model Contract, especially paragraph 5 and notes 4 and 5a. Traditionally, royalties have been paid after a book has earned back the advance to the author. The "advance" discussed in section 4 of the Model Contract is precisely that, an advance payment against royalties from the sale of the book. This system works well for original authors, for whom royalty percentages are generally much higher than they are for translators. Unfortunately, it rarely provides the translator with significant additional income over the advance. At the standard 1 to 2 percent royalty paid to translators, the book would have to sell tens of thousands of copies before the advance was covered by sales. For example, in the case of a book that sells for a retail price of $20.00, the translator would earn $0.20 per copy with a 1% royalty. Assuming the translator were given a $4,000 advance to translate the book, the publisher would have to sell a minimum of 20,000 copies of the book before it would begin paying royalties to the translator. Given the limited print runs of most books in translation (1,000–2,000 copies is commonplace), it is easy to see that the way current advance/royalty clauses are structured results in little or no tangible benefit to the translator.

Therefore, the current edition of the Handbook includes an alternate royalty clause (see item 5 of the Model Contract), which the Translation Committee hopes will become commonplace in future contracts. In this scenario, the translator is paid a fee for the translation and also receives a royalty payment on all copies of the book sold. This would not only encourage publishers to promote translated works, it would make the translator a more equal partner in the publishing enterprise and enable him or her to share in the profits of successful publications. The Committee feels that such a situation would ultimately benefit publisher, translator, and foreign author equally.

Your Name on the Title Page
The Library of Congress registers all copyrights in the United States. It also supplies essential publishing information to libraries and other databases across the country, and throughout the world, in the form of Cataloging-in-Publication (CIP) Data, which also appear (sometimes in abbreviated form) on the copyright page of a printed book.

Whether or not you own the copyright in the translation has no bearing whatsoever as to whether your name, as translator of a work, will serve as an access point in bibliographic research. In November 1993, the Library of Congress modified one of its cataloging procedures and issued the following Rule Interpretation, applying to Anglo-American Cataloging Rule 21.30K1, effective January 1994:

One of the seven conditions in rule 21.30K1 for making an added entry for the translator of a work is that "the translation is important in its own right." The Library of Congress applies this condition as follows: Make an added entry under the heading for the translator of a work of belles lettres when the name of the translator appears on the chief source of information of the item being cataloged.

"The chief source of information" here means the title page and only the title page of a book. The name of the translator on the copyright page or acknowledgment page will not suffice.

In advance of a book's publication, all publishers submit a CIP Data Sheet for Books to the Cataloging-in-Publication Division of the Library of Congress. The translator's name must be listed on the title page of the book, and therefore also in item 5, "Full Names of Authors Appearing on the Title Page," as explicitly stated in the instructions on the back of the form and in the CIP Publishers Manual. It is clearly in the translator's interest, during the course of negotiations, to underscore this procedure, which follows directly from paragraph 12, an essential provision of the Model Contract.

How Much?
Payment for translation is ordinarily calculated on the basis of a certain number of dollars per thousand words of the language into which the translation is made. Just as the advances paid to authors range from token amounts to large sums of money, so too the amounts paid to translators vary widely. Unquestionably, there is a great deal of room for negotiation here, and many factors will enter into the fee agreed on, including: the publisher's budget for the book, the experience and reputation of the translator, grant support available to subsidize the translation, the ease with which the publisher can find another translator for the book, and last but not least, the time likely to be required to complete the translation.

Before entering into any agreement with a publisher, translators should weigh carefully the time needed to finish the translation, how much they should be paid to ensure reasonable compensation for their time, and what other opportunities they may have to forego by agreeing to undertake the translation.

How long a text will take to translate depends on more than mere length. A book plainly but poorly written can take more of the translator's time than an intricate but well-crafted text. A work of scholarly nonfiction may require a great deal of library research to track exact equivalents of technical terms and sources quoted from languages other than the author's original one. And of course, the translation of poetry entails special challenges outside the realm of word counts. Translators should be sure to estimate carefully how long they anticipate the entire translation (including research and revision) will take them. They should also be sure to have a clear understanding with the publisher whether any additional tasks, such as abridging, adapting, fact checking, or indexing, may also be expected of them.

Translators and publishers alike want their translations to sell strongly. Some books may seem to have little chance of selling but are published anyway. Some of these succeed nonetheless. The translator will have to negotiate contracts on a book-by-book basis, speculating on what sort of agreement would be most advantageous. A sense of cooperation and frankness from publishers and editors about how they expect a book to do in the marketplace will help translators evaluate their real financial prospects for each project.

Translators have a responsibility to the works they are translating. They must be sure to accept only those fee arrangements that will allow them to devote enough time to the translation to do the original work justice in a new language.

They must seek compensation on a level adequate to their talent, skill, and contribution in recreating the foreign work in translation. And by not selling themselves short, they assert their position as members of a vital literary profession.

Do's and Don'ts