Copyright and the Right to Translation: An Economic Analysis

Abstract

This paper examines two rules concerning translation right as a part of copyright - the existing, rule which gives an author or a copyright owner control over the translation of his works and a new rule that removes the translation right from the copyright owner. It adopts the approach of Gordon (1992) and evaluates these rules using the concept of asymmetric market failure and a gametheoretic framework. In each case, conditions are stated - mostly related to the cost of creation and translation - under which one rule or the other is more efficient. A short remark on protection of authors' "trademark" is added. The conclusions should be relevant for political discussion over the extent of intellectual property protection.