Legal Tools Translation/4.0/Finnish
Translation of 4.0 into Legal Tools Translation/4.0/Finnish
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Jurisdictions participating in the translation
Finland
Language coordination
No other jurisdictions
Actual timeline
| Submission of Translation Proposal to Regional Coordinator: | 2013/05/01 |
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| Submission of First Draft: | {{{actualdraftdate}}} |
| Start of public comment period: | {{{actualpublicdate}}} |
| End of public comment period: | {{{actualpublicenddate}}} |
| Publication Date: | {{{actualend_date}}} |
Proposed timeline
| Estimated Submission of First Draft: | 2013/11/01 |
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| Estimated Start of public comment period: | 2014/05/01 |
| Estimated End of public comment period: | 2014/05/15 |
| Estimated Publication Date: | 2014/06/01 |
Translation process
The iteration process for the translation included the following steps:
1) First draft: Composed by Henri Tanskanen, Associate, HH Partners, Attorneys-at-law Ltd. Mr. Tanskanen has over three years of experience on questions related to open government data, open source licensing and other open licensing models gained from work experience at HH Partners, Nokia Corporation and the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications, as well as from writing his LL.M. Thesis on open government data. In addition to this, Mr. Tanskanen has five years of various work experience, both legal and non-legal, related to the software industry.
2) First review: Review of the first draft. Performed by Martin von Willebrand, Attorney-at-Law and Partner, HH Partners, Attorneys-at-law. Mr. von Willebrand has extensive experience on domestic and international assignments in technology, such as licensing, transfer of rights, protection of IPRs and knowledge, open source and copyright questions. For example Legal 500, Chambers, Best Lawyers, Who's Who Legal and many other publications rate him among top technology practitioners in Finland.
3) Further iterative reviews: The draft was further discussed and reviewed by Liisa Laakso-Tammisto, translator (authorized) and a group of lawyers with extensive experience in Intellectual Property Rights, consisting of the afore-mentioned lawyers at HH Partners, as well as Esa Korkeamäki, Partner at HH Partners, Head of IP practice, and Maria Rehbinder, Legal Counsel, IPR Services of Art Universities, Aalto University. The review at this stage mainly concentrated on reviewing the most important terminological, structural and conceptual choices, as well as improving the language of the translation in terms of intelligibility, clarity and consistence.
The public commenting period will see the draft published on creativecommons.fi. The notice for commenting will go out to the Finnish government, the open data networks, cultural institutions, and copyright agencies.
Website: http://creativecommons.fi/
Team
Tarmo Toikkanen, Aalto University: general coordinator of CC Finland Maria Rehbinder, Aalto University: legal councel, license translation coordinator of CC Finland Henri Tanskanen, Associate, HH Partners, Attorneys-at-law Ltd: main translator (contracted by CC Finland) Martin von Willebrand, Attorney-at-Law and Partner, HH Partners, Attorneys-at-law: translation supervision (contracted by CC Finland)
Word choice
Here, we have attempted to summarize the most important challenges we have faced during the translation process, including challenges related to the process and policy in general, as well as the most crucial individual issues related to terminology etc. A summary of the most essential translation choices can be found below after this section.
General issues
There were some general challenges with English legal language that are typical for any comparable translation task. Legal texts in English differ from their counterparts in Finnish in various ways, some of which have to do with differences in legal systems and legal culture, and some of which relate to linguistic differences and different ways of expression. In Finnish legal texts, sentences expressing rules and/or terms and conditions are usually perhaps slightly briefer and structurally simpler mainly due to two factors. First, as opposed to common law contract drafting style, Finnish law allows for somewhat less detailed definitions and other formulations as well as perhaps slightly more purpose-oriented interpretation of stipulations, resulting in lesser use of e.g. lists, alternative phrases or forms as well as less extensive consideration of every possible incident and course of events. Second, the structure of terms and conditions can be slightly different, and sentences are typically shorter. English legal terms and conditions can in some respects be difficult to reconstruct in Finnish in the exact same form, or at least it can result in uneasy and unnatural-sounding sentences with excessive repetitive elements. (This is mostly due to linguistic differences, such as Finnish being linguistically more synthetic and agglutinative compared to English, which is more analytical and isolating.)
Based on the given instructions, we have strived to keep the structure and boundaries of the sentences as close to the original as possible. This has resulted in some sentences and paragraphs that are slightly more uneasy and repetitive than they would have been had we taken more liberties in formulating the terms and conditions more in line with Finnish legal texts and culture.
The original text includes some phrases and concepts which do not have an equivalent among Finnish legal concepts (e.g. punitive damages). There are also some concepts which are included as separate terms in the original text but which correspond, in Finnish, to only one translated concept (e.g. punitive and exemplary damages fall into the same translated concept). In our translation, we have tried to stick to the original categorization as much as possible, i.e. finding an established individual expression for each individual concept. However, we have made some exceptions where 1) the Finnish translation requires a longer phrase to encompass the original meaning, or 2) we have felt confident that a single Finnish wording encompasses a range of several concepts in the original text in a clear-cut way.
Individual terminology issues
The most important individual terminology and phrase choices:
1) “License”, noun: The term “license” has two established translations in Finnish, namely, “lisenssi” and “käyttölupa” (literally, “permit to use”). “Käyttölupa” is commonly used in various official translations of EU legislation, e.g. the PSI Directive (2003/98/EC). “Lisenssi”, however, is not uncommon in EU law context either, and especially for the verb “license”, the Finnish translation very commonly uses the form derived from “lisenssi” (“lisens[i]oida”). Both “käyttölupa” and “lisenssi” are common in Finnish-language license contracts. Although we have no empirical data on the subject, we estimate that “lisenssi” is especially common in the business community and in business contracts, whereas the prevalence of “käyttölupa” is perhaps relatively higher in public sector contexts. In the media and layman use, “lisenssi” is far more common, and this is especially true for Creative Commons licenses. After some discussion, we opted for “lisenssi” (noun) and “lisensoida” (verb).
2) “Copyright and Similar Rights”: We have translated “Similar Rights” as “Lähioikeudet” which is the Finnish equivalent of the concept of “neighboring rights” or “related rights”. The term has a specific meaning under the Finnish Copyright Act, covering certain sections of the Act. However, the same concept is used in legal literature to refer to similar groups of rights in other jurisdictions, as well, so we considered that the use of the term does not, as such, bind the definition to a specifically Finnish-law concept.
3) “Apply”: The verb “apply” as it is used in the license text (esp. when “applying the license), would usually be translated as “soveltaa”. However, the verb “soveltaa” can, in some contexts, be understood and translated as “to adapt” or “to apply with changes”. If “soveltaa” were used, we consider it is quite clear from the context that it would not be understood to include the afore-mentioned connotation. However, to eliminate any possible doubt or misinterpretation, we have in some instances opted for a different translation, e.g. “käyttää” (nearest correspondent “to use”). So, for example the phrase “the Adapter's License You apply” has, in the translation, a literal meaning very close to “the Adapter's License You use”.
4) “For purposes of this Public License”: There is no exact and established translation for this phrase in Finnish legal texts. To convey the corresponding meaning, we have translated the construct of “For purposes of this Public License … X is Y” as something corresponding to “When using [/applying] and interpreting this Public License … X shall be considered as Y”).
Translation choices for key terms and concepts
Below, you will find a list of what are, in our opinion, the most essential translation choices for individual expressions made in the course of this work, along with a description indicating the justification for and the criteria used in the translation. Please note, however, that the translation worksheet contains some additional and expanded notes on the individual choices, as well. Original Finnish translation Description/notes
Copyright Tekijänoikeus Berne Convention, official translation
original work of authorship luovan työn itsenäinen ja omaperäinen tulos Literally: an independent and original product of creative work. This is the established and customary definition of a copyrightable work under Finnish law and in Finnish legal literature. As this is not part of the actual legal code, we felt comfortable with the slight deviation from the original wording.
creator tekijä Literally: author, creator.
work teos Berne Convention, official translation
Similar Rights Lähioikeudet See notes above.
make available to the public saattaa yleisön saataviin Copyright Directive (2001/29/EC), official translation
reproduce valmistaa kappaleita Copyright Directive (2001/29/EC), official translation
adapt muunnella Berne Convention, official translation
distribute levittää Berne Convention, official translation
performance esitys Berne Convention, official translation
display näyttää, näyttäminen Finnish Copyright Act, Section 20.1
communicate, communication välittää, välittäminen Berne Convention, official translation
disseminate, dissemination jakaa, jakaminen Exception: In Berne Convention, official translation, both distribution and dissemination have been translated as “levittäminen”. Here, we have instead chosen a term (“jakaminen”) which has essentially the same meaning.
translate, translation kääntää, käännös Berne Convention, official translation
alter muuttaa Berne Convention, official translation
arrange sovittaa Berne Convention, official translation
performance, broadcast (and) sound recording (rights) esityksiä, lähetyksiä (ja) äänitallenteita (koskevat oikeudet) Performance: Berne Convention, official translation Broadcast: Deviation from Berne Convention, official translation. The term used in the Berne Convention translation (“yleisradiointi”) sounds dated and may even be accidentally associated by the reader with public service broadcasting, specifically. We have opted for “lähetys” (generic word for broadcast, transmission, relay) which is used in the Finnish Copyright Act (section on neighbouring right related to radio and TV broadcasts and other transmissions/signals carrying programming).
moral rights moraaliset oikeudet Berne Convention, official translation
publicity and privacy rights julkisuus- ja yksityisyysoikeudet Literal translations; used in Finnish legal literature to describe these types of rights in foreign law context. The concept of publicity rights is not commonly used in the context of Finnish law.
extraction (of data) kopiointi Database Directive (96/9/EC), official translation
dissemination (of data) levitys Not used in the Database Directive. Literal translation; “levitys” is the proper choice especially here where the object (of dissemination) consists of information.
use; reuse (of data) käyttö; uudelleenkäyttö Database Directive (96/9/EC), official translation
reproduce (contents of the database) toisintaa Database Directive (96/9/EC), official translation
database rights tietokantaoikeudet Established in Finnish legal literature.
Effective Technological Measures Tehokkaat Tekniset Toimenpiteet Established expression under Finnish law (legislation, literature).
waive luopua The established Finnish expression used when waiving any rights.
Status (as of)
In Progress
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