Bhante Sujato's translations: Copyright on Publication details tab

I’m wondering if there is a plan to include copyright information on the Publication details card on Bhante @Sujato’s translations.

SuttaCentral is becoming a really important resource for Asian monastics doing Dhamma propagation in English and they are increasingly aware of copyright protection. I was able to find this page, https://suttacentral.net/licensing but only after really digging. (Triple Dot>Aknowledgements>Licencing ~Is there another way??)

If you are out of the loop, there’s no way to know that translations by Bhante Sujato would fall under this…

This includes all text, design, software, and images created by SuttaCentral or persons working for SuttaCentral, on the domain suttacentral.net, or any domains or subdomains owned or managed by SuttaCentral, unless otherwise specified.

4 Likes

Sorry, this is a bad thing, and I will try to update it right away.

In fact we have a long-term plan to offer much more comprehensive and meaningful metadata about our projects, but so far have not had the personnel to get it done. Allowing the perfect to be enemy of the good, I have not made the appropriate changes on my texts. But I will do that now.

If you want to see our proposals, see:

1 Like

Just realized that I never thanked you for your response. Thank you! Just having something simple would be a big help for these monks. If it could have a link to a more explicit page on the copyright that would be ideal.

For example if it could spell things out in detail

  • You can reproduce the translation exactly as it is
  • You can reproduce the translation with changes
  • You can sell whatever you reproduce
  • If you make changes you can apply your own copyright to the text (is that true??)
  • You can give credit to the original translator or not
  • etc etc

And if you could give several boiler-plate texts folks could use that would be great. For example a one sentence attribution that could be used in short places like facebook posts as well as a more detailed attribution that could be used in print publications.

Also it would be great to have some examples of ways to attribute when changes are made. For example

  • “Based on the translation by Bhikkhu Sujato on SuttaCentral.net” or
  • “Minor changes have been made to Bhikkhu Sujato’s translation. To find the original, visit SuttaCentral.net

I realize you already have a license page. What I am thinking of would be a page more specifically about using the translation. Something like “Using and Giving Credit for This Translation.” Working a lot with non-native English speakers, I see the value of having very specific, single page instructions.

Different topic…
I saw this on the page you linked to

Description* : A translation of the four main Pali nikāyas into plain English, using segmented Pali/English text.
Aim* : Create a plain English translation of the four nikāyas intended for non-specialist readers, avoiding jargon and archaic usages. The translation should be readable, complete, accurate, consistent, and free of copyright. It will be matched segment by segment with the underlying Pali text, and will be used as the basis for further translations into other target languages.

I’m wondering if this is something official that could be reproduced to explain the basic philosophy of your translation in brief.

1 Like

Pending the full revision of our metadata handling, I have added the following copyright statement:

Translated for SuttaCentral by Bhikkhu Sujato. Dedicated to the public domain via Creative Commons Zero (CC0). You are encouraged to copy, reproduce, adapt, alter, or otherwise make use of this translation in any way you wish. Attribution is appreciated but not legally required.

Okay, let me give it some thought.

Well at the moment it’s just a proposal, but sure, you can use it to summarize what the project is about. (I will probably amend it at some point to include the Khuddaka books I am translating.)

5 Likes

So, I’m still not seeing this. Is this an oversight?

8 posts were split to a new topic: Free Commons translations and possible misuse

Bhante, I’m not sure you saw my original post asking if this change had been overlooked.

The notice has been updated, but rollout to the production site is delayed because of our many, many ongoing upgrades. But you can see it here!

2 Likes

The new suttaplex layout is gorgeous!

2 Likes

Wonderful, Bhante. That will be a big help.