A Report On The E-C Translation Of Authors, Users, And Pirates: Copyright Law And Subjectivity (Excerpts)

The source text in this translation report is selected from Authors,Users,and Pirates: Copyright Law and Subjectivity(hereafter called Copyright Law)by James Meese,a senior lecturer at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.The selected text analyzes how the user has been constituted through fair use exceptions,and how the user’s limited position in law can be fully understood through a detailed examination of the development and regulation of radio,television,and video in the UK and US.Then,it explores the boundary between author and pirate in the music and art industries to further discuss relational authorship and how use and infringement are interpreted.Taking into consideration the selected text involving American and British copyright laws,common law cases,and legal proceedings,the translator has chosen Vermeer’s skopos theory as the guiding principle for the legal text.The translation is mainly reader-oriented,the readability and acceptability of the target text is highlighted,and the target text should be loyal to the source text as much as possible.This translation report includes five chapters: the first is the introduction of translation task,involving text description and task significance;the second is the brief description of the translation process,involving pre-translation,while-translation,and post-translation;the third is the introduction of Vermeer’s skopos theory,explaining how the theory guides the translation of the selected legal text;the fourth is case study,involving the analysis,resolution of translation difficulties,and the application of skopos theory;the fifth is the conclusion,introducing the translator’s psychological process,along with the gains from the translation and future expectations.Legal translation has interdisciplinary features,and requires professional expertise.Based on the translation practice,this translation report analyzes the features of legal English texts,summarizes the translation process,and draws corresponding conclusions.Firstly,legal translation requires that the translator should not only possess good English translation skills,but also have enough background information about legal systems,so as to possibly avoid mistranslation.Secondly,due to the increasing awareness of copyright protection and the development of emerging internet technology,the fair use exceptions in the text may promote the development of China’s copyright law.Thirdly,the parallel text may greatly improve the accuracy and efficiency of legal translation,and forensic linguistics plays a vital role in translating foreign legal provisions and regulations,which functions as parallel text to better serve target readers.