Re: Query: Translations & legal issues

["M. Dannenberg" <midannen -at- SI -dot- BOSCH -dot- DE>]

Paula Reynolds schrieb:

> Hello,
>
> Our manufacturing firm has never sent electronic copies of our manual
> to ou=
> r=20
> customers, due to the fear of manipulating the text and perhaps
> overwriting=
> =20
> some of our safety descriptions and warnings.
>
> Now we have a customer who wants an electronic copy because they want
> to=20
> make a translation.  Marketing wants to go ahead and send them one,
> and I=20
> say no...either we provide a translation or they can type it in
> themselves.=
> =20
>  How have you folks handled this?  Am I being too paranoid (probably)?
>
>

Hi.

Large translation companies use things called translation memories to
handle large projects. These can compare different versions of a
document, so that only the changed parts have to be translated.
Therefore having access to the source document in electronic form is
important.

So basically your customer's request is reasonable, but so are your
reservations. I think the way out would be to make them sign a piece of
paper stating exactly what they are allowed to do with your doc, and
what not. Have it checked by your legal department. That way you have
your behind covered, while still being responsive to customer requests.

Mike


--
Mike Dannenberg
ETAS GmbH & Co.KG
midannen -at- si -dot- bosch -dot- de

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