Saying It in Another Language: Translation, Dubbing, and the Derivative Work Nobody Cleared
By Casey Scott McKay ·
A translation is a new copyrighted work made out of somebody else's copyrighted work, which means every localisation project is a derivative work project whether anyone has said so or not. This article works through the translation right and where it sits, the translator's own copyright in what they produced, and the work made for hire category that makes translations unusual among commissioned works. It then covers dubbing and subtitling, which involve rights the text translation does not touch, and the moral rights regimes abroad that can make an authorised adaptation unlawful in the market it was made for. The second half addresses licence drafting where language and territory do not align, brand localisation and transliteration, software and interface localisation, and the machine translation questions that have changed the economics of the whole field without changing its law.
IP and Technology > Copyright | Article | Published 16 December 2023 - Updated 17 May 2026 | Casey Scott McKay - marksy.us
Summary. A translation is a new copyrighted work made out of somebody else's copyrighted work, which means every localisation project is a derivative work project whether anyone has said so or not. This article works through the translation right and where it sits, the translator's own copyright in what they produced, and the work made for hire category that makes translations unusual among commissioned works. It then covers dubbing and subtitling, which involve rights the text translation does not touch, and the moral rights regimes abroad that can make an authorised adaptation unlawful in the market it was made for. The second half addresses licence drafting where language and territory do not align, brand localisation and transliteration, software and interface localisation, and the machine translation questions that have changed the economics of the whole field without changing its law.
Keywords: translation rights · derivative works · translator copyright · work made for hire categories · dubbing and subtitling · synchronisation · voice performers · moral rights abroad · integrity right · Berne translation right · territorial versus language grants · transliteration · doctrine of foreign equivalents · software localisation · string files · machine translation output · post-editing · synthetic voice dubbing · publishing translation rights · fansubbing
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