tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Apr 13 12:06:07 1995
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Re: copyrights
On Thu, 13 Apr 1995, Craig Altenburg wrote:
> >> What's the legal status of the Klingon language word lists as presented in
> >> Okrand's TKD? May they be copied and used in other works? (For example, an
> I would love to see what a copyright lawyer has to say about this. My
> understanding is that languages cannot be copyrighted. This (if true)
> would mean that anyone could publish a tlhIngan Hol dictionary or works
> describing tlhIngan Hol grammar. As Alan mentioned "...only the
> formatting...is protected by copyright." Thus, you could publish a list
> of words with their translations if you created the list yourself.
>
> If I were planning on publish such a work "for profit" I would certainly
> seek legal advice first.
Ah, the key is that Marc's *translation* of his Klingon *is* protected.
Indeed, you can't copy his work, which means, you'd have to make all the
translations unique to you:: hard to do for a language that isn't living
(in the Earth sense)... Take 4 or so German-English dictionaries and lay
them side-by-side and you'll see what I mean. The organizations can be
different, the pronunciation guides, and even the words used in the
translations....
With Klingon, how do you get around that? Only Marc has the largest tank
of information about it.... There are no native speakers around to
quiz..... (yet...)
Dave.