Intellectual Property Law in the Editorial World of Books Translation, under the brazilian perspective of implementing the “Copyright Law”

Abstract

This article aims to present how the translator's copyright is recognized in the editorial scope of book marketing. The paper will demonstrate through a broad reflection, the difficulties faced by translation professionals for the purpose of granting copyright, through the Brazilian perspective of implementing the “Copyright Law”. The paper gives a historical approach of the formation of copyright, it then identifies the first systems of copyright protection, besides explaining the construction of the contemporary international model for the protection of intellectual property. Thus, the analysis demonstrates a case study and comparative law, with the purpose of showing the problem faced by translators, both in Brazil and in other jurisdictions. To develop this narrative, four strategic cases of two major publishing successes, "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Rings", were chosen. Therefore, as a main issue of this study, the legal dispute over the copyright of Lord of the Rings’ translation in Brazil is detailed. In this sense, the article differentiates the contractual models for the provision of services and copyright concessions, based on the Brazilian system, to validate the claim that the translator is an author. Thereby, based on the results found, this study concludes that the translation under copyright regime is the Author's Right and not a simple provision of services.