Query: Copyrights for translations

[Geoff Hart <geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

        Someone asked me what happens to copyright if you perform a
     translation of someone else's work. My conditional answer was that
     copyright remains in the hands of the first-language author, but that
     the translator usually gets a coauthorship. However, on reflection, it
     occurs to me that ethically, translating someone else's work is as
     much work as writing it in the first place, and is arguably as
     original an act of creation as consulting a reference source (e.g., an
     encyclopedia). I speak from personal experience (I translate French
     into English as part of my daily work). The problem is, most authors
     who pay any attention at all to their rights can collect considerable
     royalties for sales of translations of their works.
        These two extremes leaves me somewhere in legal limbo (isn't _that_
     a phrase that sends a cold draft through your bowels!). The issue
     doesn't concern me at work, because the translation (as well as the
     originals) are all legally "works for hire" and copyright resides in
     our employer. But if I were to find a neat book in French (I have a
     few in mind), what sort of "creator's rights" should I aim for? This
     question could be posted to the translators' mailing list, but I don't
     participate there (only so many hours in a day). Any suggestions from
     real-life experience? (Please... no hypothetical cases.)

     --Geoff Hart  #8^{)}