Drafting Klingon press statement re Axanar lawsuit for LCS
Hello all. You are probably aware by now of the LCS' amicus brief about copyrightability of the Klingon language in the Paramount v Axanar case: <http://conlang.org/axanar> I'm drafting a press statement summarizing our involvement in the case, its impact, the change in Paramount's position, why we used pIqaD and humor in the brief, etc. I would like to start the statement with a part in Klingon, saying something to the effect of the following:
Klingon is a rich language that cannot be controlled by IP law. We are glad that Paramount has, for now, backed down from claiming that speaking Klingon, by itself, is punishable in court. Paramount overreached; we successfully responded.
It does NOT need to be tied to the English source (though I'll need a backtranslation); I simply want it to convey the basic ideas. This should be on the interpretation end of the scale, not the 1:1 equivalence end, and I'm happy to have it changed to fit what would work better in Klingon, use a Klingon pun, etc. Ideally, it would: * be done by end of day today (Pacific time) * use some non-TKD words that are community-developed and -accepted * use legal terms (like IP law or copyright) translated such that they'd pass as reasonable to the community * be about a paragraph long A paragraph is long enough to prove that Klingon is not just for random one-off phrases, while being short enough that it is likely to be quoted. This press release is likely to get very widely publicized, and I would like the Klingon paragraph to be the leading summary. The point of using Klingon in the press statement is to demonstrate by example that it can be used to talk about things that are not merely "describing life for a space-faring warrior race of aliens, or satirizing Star Trek fans" — like the above. If you're willing to help, please email me offlist, preferably with your Google account email (if you have one), since the draft is in a google doc. It would also help to IM me directly; see accounts @ <https://s.ai/contact>. I'm happy to give credit — or not — as preferred. Separately from the above, if any of you have questions about the case or our involvement in it, or about the LCS itself, I'd be happy to answer them. As I hope you understand, the amount that we are able to reach out about legal filings before they're actually submitted in court is very limited. The same goes for any legal strategy, decisions, etc. There are issues of privilege, timing, and possible conflicts of interest. We did not want to put KLI in a problematic position with Paramount by being directly involved in our amicus curiae brief opposing them, when KLI has an existing working arrangement that has avoided it being an issue. The translations in the first brief (the actual amicus) were done by our lawyers, mainly using Bing. Yes, we know they're not good; unfortunately, timing and the need to keep it within privilege prevented a better review. However, the fact that one can comment on the translations being wrong does go to prove the point that Klingon is a real language. The translations in reply on the renewal motion were done first by the same method, then reviewed by Tony Harris and Joey Windsor. If there are any issues in the future where our help would be useful, please get in touch. <lcs@conlang.org> should work as a long-term primary contact for most things. For things related to any legal issues, including the Axanar case, <press@conlang.org> is a better contact, as I receive press@ (but not lcs@) email, and am the main person within LCS who handles such things (short of actual legal advice or representation). Sincerely, Sai
Dear Sai, I have drafted a brief translation of your statement, which in my opinion is quite close (but not too much) to the text, and I added a re-translation as well. I'm positive it would be understood correctly. But I'd like to have other speakers have a look and see if there's either a mistake, or perhaps a possibility to rephrase or maybe throw in one or two specific Klingon phrases or a pun, or something similar... one of the words in the text is slang, I don't know how appropriate this is in such a statement. And perhaps there is a better word for "intellectual property law" other than my attempt of {qech ghajwI' chut} (lit. 'idea owner law'). So here's my attempt: ORIGINAL:
Klingon is a rich language that cannot be controlled by IP law. We are glad that Paramount has, for now, backed down from claiming that speaking Klingon, by itself, is punishable in court. Paramount overreached; we successfully responded.
TRANSLATION: pab naQ mu'mey law' je ngaSbogh Hol Dun 'oHbej tlhIngan Hol'e'. HoSghajqu'mo' che'laHbe' qech ghajwI' chut. tlhIngan Hol jatlhlu'DI' bIjlaH bo'DIj 'op ret 'e' wuqpu' Paramount malja'. DaH wuqHa'pu'mo', maQuch. tlhoy tlhIngan Hol jatlhwI'pu' moH 'e' nIDpu' Paramount malja', vaj majangchu'. RE-TRANSLATION: = The Klingon language is a clearly a glorious language which contains a complete grammar and many words. Because it is very powerful, the law of the idea owner does not rule it. In the past, the Paramount business has decided that as soon as someone speaks Klingon, the court can punish them. Now, because it un-decided it, we are happy. The Paramount business tried to <SLANG>exert undue influence</SLANG> on the speakers of the Klingon language, so we responded clearly. Greetings from Switzerland, - André 2017-01-07 22:17 GMT+01:00 Sai <conlangs@saizai.com>:
Hello all.
You are probably aware by now of the LCS' amicus brief about copyrightability of the Klingon language in the Paramount v Axanar case: <http://conlang.org/axanar>
I'm drafting a press statement summarizing our involvement in the case, its impact, the change in Paramount's position, why we used pIqaD and humor in the brief, etc.
I would like to start the statement with a part in Klingon, saying something to the effect of the following:
Klingon is a rich language that cannot be controlled by IP law. We are glad that Paramount has, for now, backed down from claiming that speaking Klingon, by itself, is punishable in court. Paramount overreached; we successfully responded.
It does NOT need to be tied to the English source (though I'll need a backtranslation); I simply want it to convey the basic ideas. This should be on the interpretation end of the scale, not the 1:1 equivalence end, and I'm happy to have it changed to fit what would work better in Klingon, use a Klingon pun, etc.
Ideally, it would: * be done by end of day today (Pacific time) * use some non-TKD words that are community-developed and -accepted * use legal terms (like IP law or copyright) translated such that they'd pass as reasonable to the community * be about a paragraph long
A paragraph is long enough to prove that Klingon is not just for random one-off phrases, while being short enough that it is likely to be quoted.
This press release is likely to get very widely publicized, and I would like the Klingon paragraph to be the leading summary. The point of using Klingon in the press statement is to demonstrate by example that it can be used to talk about things that are not merely "describing life for a space-faring warrior race of aliens, or satirizing Star Trek fans" — like the above.
If you're willing to help, please email me offlist, preferably with your Google account email (if you have one), since the draft is in a google doc.
It would also help to IM me directly; see accounts @ <https://s.ai/contact
.
I'm happy to give credit — or not — as preferred.
Separately from the above, if any of you have questions about the case or our involvement in it, or about the LCS itself, I'd be happy to answer them.
As I hope you understand, the amount that we are able to reach out about legal filings before they're actually submitted in court is very limited. The same goes for any legal strategy, decisions, etc. There are issues of privilege, timing, and possible conflicts of interest. We did not want to put KLI in a problematic position with Paramount by being directly involved in our amicus curiae brief opposing them, when KLI has an existing working arrangement that has avoided it being an issue.
The translations in the first brief (the actual amicus) were done by our lawyers, mainly using Bing. Yes, we know they're not good; unfortunately, timing and the need to keep it within privilege prevented a better review. However, the fact that one can comment on the translations being wrong does go to prove the point that Klingon is a real language.
The translations in reply on the renewal motion were done first by the same method, then reviewed by Tony Harris and Joey Windsor.
If there are any issues in the future where our help would be useful, please get in touch. <lcs@conlang.org> should work as a long-term primary contact for most things.
For things related to any legal issues, including the Axanar case, <press@conlang.org> is a better contact, as I receive press@ (but not lcs@) email, and am the main person within LCS who handles such things (short of actual legal advice or representation).
Sincerely, Sai _______________________________________________ tlhIngan-Hol mailing list tlhIngan-Hol@lists.kli.org http://lists.kli.org/listinfo.cgi/tlhingan-hol-kli.org
Thank you, André. I've also run it by Joey Windsor, who added an 'oH in <HoSghajqu'mo' 'oH che'laHbe' qech ghajwI' chut.> It's now posted. Statement: <http://conlang.org/axanar/#updates> Translation notes & embedding instructions: <http://conlang.org/axanar-klingon/> Both the statement and translation notes have an explanation of why we went with <pa'ra'mon> rather than <Paramount>. Comments & feedback welcome, on this or anything else. Sincerely, Sai On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 2:53 PM, André Müller <esperantist@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Sai,
I have drafted a brief translation of your statement, which in my opinion is quite close (but not too much) to the text, and I added a re-translation as well. I'm positive it would be understood correctly. But I'd like to have other speakers have a look and see if there's either a mistake, or perhaps a possibility to rephrase or maybe throw in one or two specific Klingon phrases or a pun, or something similar... one of the words in the text is slang, I don't know how appropriate this is in such a statement. And perhaps there is a better word for "intellectual property law" other than my attempt of {qech ghajwI' chut} (lit. 'idea owner law').
So here's my attempt:
ORIGINAL:
Klingon is a rich language that cannot be controlled by IP law. We are glad that Paramount has, for now, backed down from claiming that speaking Klingon, by itself, is punishable in court. Paramount overreached; we successfully responded.
TRANSLATION: pab naQ mu'mey law' je ngaSbogh Hol Dun 'oHbej tlhIngan Hol'e'. HoSghajqu'mo' che'laHbe' qech ghajwI' chut. tlhIngan Hol jatlhlu'DI' bIjlaH bo'DIj 'op ret 'e' wuqpu' Paramount malja'. DaH wuqHa'pu'mo', maQuch. tlhoy tlhIngan Hol jatlhwI'pu' moH 'e' nIDpu' Paramount malja', vaj majangchu'.
RE-TRANSLATION: = The Klingon language is a clearly a glorious language which contains a complete grammar and many words. Because it is very powerful, the law of the idea owner does not rule it. In the past, the Paramount business has decided that as soon as someone speaks Klingon, the court can punish them. Now, because it un-decided it, we are happy. The Paramount business tried to <SLANG>exert undue influence</SLANG> on the speakers of the Klingon language, so we responded clearly.
Greetings from Switzerland, - André
2017-01-07 22:17 GMT+01:00 Sai <conlangs@saizai.com>:
Hello all.
You are probably aware by now of the LCS' amicus brief about copyrightability of the Klingon language in the Paramount v Axanar case: <http://conlang.org/axanar>
I'm drafting a press statement summarizing our involvement in the case, its impact, the change in Paramount's position, why we used pIqaD and humor in the brief, etc.
I would like to start the statement with a part in Klingon, saying something to the effect of the following:
Klingon is a rich language that cannot be controlled by IP law. We are glad that Paramount has, for now, backed down from claiming that speaking Klingon, by itself, is punishable in court. Paramount overreached; we successfully responded.
It does NOT need to be tied to the English source (though I'll need a backtranslation); I simply want it to convey the basic ideas. This should be on the interpretation end of the scale, not the 1:1 equivalence end, and I'm happy to have it changed to fit what would work better in Klingon, use a Klingon pun, etc.
Ideally, it would: * be done by end of day today (Pacific time) * use some non-TKD words that are community-developed and -accepted * use legal terms (like IP law or copyright) translated such that they'd pass as reasonable to the community * be about a paragraph long
A paragraph is long enough to prove that Klingon is not just for random one-off phrases, while being short enough that it is likely to be quoted.
This press release is likely to get very widely publicized, and I would like the Klingon paragraph to be the leading summary. The point of using Klingon in the press statement is to demonstrate by example that it can be used to talk about things that are not merely "describing life for a space-faring warrior race of aliens, or satirizing Star Trek fans" — like the above.
If you're willing to help, please email me offlist, preferably with your Google account email (if you have one), since the draft is in a google doc.
It would also help to IM me directly; see accounts @ <https://s.ai/contact>.
I'm happy to give credit — or not — as preferred.
Separately from the above, if any of you have questions about the case or our involvement in it, or about the LCS itself, I'd be happy to answer them.
As I hope you understand, the amount that we are able to reach out about legal filings before they're actually submitted in court is very limited. The same goes for any legal strategy, decisions, etc. There are issues of privilege, timing, and possible conflicts of interest. We did not want to put KLI in a problematic position with Paramount by being directly involved in our amicus curiae brief opposing them, when KLI has an existing working arrangement that has avoided it being an issue.
The translations in the first brief (the actual amicus) were done by our lawyers, mainly using Bing. Yes, we know they're not good; unfortunately, timing and the need to keep it within privilege prevented a better review. However, the fact that one can comment on the translations being wrong does go to prove the point that Klingon is a real language.
The translations in reply on the renewal motion were done first by the same method, then reviewed by Tony Harris and Joey Windsor.
If there are any issues in the future where our help would be useful, please get in touch. <lcs@conlang.org> should work as a long-term primary contact for most things.
For things related to any legal issues, including the Axanar case, <press@conlang.org> is a better contact, as I receive press@ (but not lcs@) email, and am the main person within LCS who handles such things (short of actual legal advice or representation).
Sincerely, Sai _______________________________________________ tlhIngan-Hol mailing list tlhIngan-Hol@lists.kli.org http://lists.kli.org/listinfo.cgi/tlhingan-hol-kli.org
_______________________________________________ tlhIngan-Hol mailing list tlhIngan-Hol@lists.kli.org http://lists.kli.org/listinfo.cgi/tlhingan-hol-kli.org
participants (2)
-
André Müller -
Sai