DE-EN: Copyright on legal text translations on gesetze-im-internet Thread poster: Jeremy Amos
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Jeremy Amos 
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:25
German to English
Hi all,
I'm doing a translation which includes large sections of text quoted from two German Legal instruments. semi-official translations of which are available on the Bundesministerium der Justiz/Bundesamt für Justiz website gesetze-im-internet.de. The text is for an appendix to a document outlining to employees at a small company their data protection obligations (in the most impenetrable language possible).
I was merrily copying and pasting the translations when I ... See more Hi all,
I'm doing a translation which includes large sections of text quoted from two German Legal instruments. semi-official translations of which are available on the Bundesministerium der Justiz/Bundesamt für Justiz website gesetze-im-internet.de. The text is for an appendix to a document outlining to employees at a small company their data protection obligations (in the most impenetrable language possible).
I was merrily copying and pasting the translations when I stopped to read the user notice, which states that "Any reproduction, processing, distribution or other type of use of these translations that does not fall within the relevant copyright exceptions requires the prior consent of the author or other rights holder. "
I would imagine that my use constitutes 'fair use', but I'm anything but an expert on German copyright law and I have no idea of the scope of German 'fair use' exemptions. I don't want the customer to get sued and then come after me.
Can anyone set my mind at rest/stop me from bankrupting myself by telling me whether this use is legally permissible under German law?
Many thanks for your views!
Jeremy ▲ Collapse
| | | | Joakim Braun
Sweden
Local time: 01:25
German to Swedish
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| Probably not fair use | May 16, 2022 |
I don't know what the German rules are, but "fair use" is usually about quoting excerpts in the context of science, criticism, journalism, public debate, creation of derived artworks etc. I can't imagine it would cover distribution of material internally to the employees of a company.
Note that some translations are by the ministries, while some are by private companies or individuals. Listing the names in that way suggests that they are the translation copyright holders.
... See more I don't know what the German rules are, but "fair use" is usually about quoting excerpts in the context of science, criticism, journalism, public debate, creation of derived artworks etc. I can't imagine it would cover distribution of material internally to the employees of a company.
Note that some translations are by the ministries, while some are by private companies or individuals. Listing the names in that way suggests that they are the translation copyright holders.
Why not ask the Kompetenzzentrum?
[Bearbeitet am 2022-05-17 08:51 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Adieu
Ukrainian to English
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| If it's a government-published document | Jun 17, 2022 |
Bundes-whatever is a government body, right?
Yeah, copy and paste it. Unless it's total junk, you're kind of expected to use it.
Besides, they already used YOUR tax euros to produce and post that translation.
PS depends what you're doing with it. Internal use document? Definitely normal. Published textbook? Probably will need to add a citation or something.
[Edited at 2022-06-17 15:31 GMT]
| | | | | Copyright of official texts | Jun 17, 2022 |
There is a Wikipedia article about this at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_of_official_texts .
For Germany, there is no copyright. The article refers to http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/urhg/__5.html :
Gesetz über Urheberrecht und verwand... See more There is a Wikipedia article about this at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_of_official_texts .
For Germany, there is no copyright. The article refers to http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/urhg/__5.html :
Gesetz über Urheberrecht und verwandte Schutzrechte (Urheberrechtsgesetz)
§ 5 Amtliche Werke
(1) Gesetze, Verordnungen, amtliche Erlasse und Bekanntmachungen sowie Entscheidungen und amtlich verfaßte Leitsätze zu Entscheidungen genießen b>keinen urheberrechtlichen Schutz.
(2) Das gleiche gilt für andere amtliche Werke, die im amtlichen Interesse zur allgemeinen Kenntnisnahme veröffentlicht worden sind, mit der Einschränkung, daß die Bestimmungen über Änderungsverbot und Quellenangabe in § 62 Abs. 1 bis 3 und § 63 Abs. 1 und 2 entsprechend anzuwenden sind.
(3) Das Urheberrecht an privaten Normwerken wird durch die Absätze 1 und 2 nicht berührt, wenn Gesetze, Verordnungen, Erlasse oder amtliche Bekanntmachungen auf sie verweisen, ohne ihren Wortlaut wiederzugeben. In diesem Fall ist der Urheber verpflichtet, jedem Verleger zu angemessenen Bedingungen ein Recht zur Vervielfältigung und Verbreitung einzuräumen. Ist ein Dritter Inhaber des ausschließlichen Rechts zur Vervielfältigung und Verbreitung, so ist dieser zur Einräumung des Nutzungsrechts nach Satz 2 verpflichtet.
It could be argued that a translation of a law is not a law.
However, it says that the same is the case for other public works that have been published in official interest, and it could easily be argued, with such a general wording, that a translation of a law published by the government falls in that category. ▲ Collapse
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