Nihonto Collecting Guide

[Rivkin]

Sounds amazing, but.

 

I know two teams that did mass translations and in the first case a considerable sum was paid which was then turned into profit by selling membership.

In the second case there was a very uneven expenditure of resources allocated with two people doing 95% of the work. I know this not from them personally.

 

Both teams have guys on the forum.

If its one of them, will team leads join the call for public release...

[Brian]

Let's get the docs, and then myself and Rayhan can work out the logistics. I suspect this forum is currently the largest English online repository of Nihonto info in the world currently, so we'll do the best we can to share what we can. Thanks Rayhan, PM sent.

[Brano]

It is undoubtedly a generous gesture from @Rayhan
It is one thing to process data and databases for one's own use
And another thing to have publicly available data
Just a friendly reminder
Every publication is subject to copyright
And since Japan is a signatory to the Berne Convention, copyright expires 50 years after the author's death

[Gakusee]

Hmmm, a very contentious and risky subject all of a sudden. Let us just say that I am aware of various individuals and groups making various attempts at digitalising, translating, etc.

 

2 hours ago, Rivkin said:

I know two teams that did mass translations and in the first case a considerable sum was paid which was then turned into profit by selling membership.

The above statement is wrong. If the definition of profit is clear (total gain arising out of the the difference by which revenue exceeds production costs, distribution cost and other costs and expenses of bringing the item to the end user) then to everyone it will be very clear that exercise was very likely a massive loss-making endeavour. 

 

Strong word of caution please: be very mindful of who owns the copyright to the text and the translation.... It is not the one who has paid for the translation (even though it might be believed to be so) or has purchased the published variant of the underlying text (eg hard copy of the Nado Zufu or a digital scan of it). Furthermore, the copyright to the underlying text also is owned by the original publisher and in the case of the Zufu, that is the NBTHK. The copyright of the translation remains with the translator, or potentially the publisher of the translated text (who likely separately paid the translator and obtained the sub-copyright from the translator, so that the publisher can subsequently package and sell the overall translated underlying text.)

 

Please be mindful of potentially breaching both sets of copyright and entering the zone of potential litigation... 

 

I shall stop here. 

[Rayhan]

Anything i share with @Brian will be my personal database and I will never infringe on the efforts of others. I have a very small database comparing to others so hopefully this puts things to rest and others can relax easy. Gentlemen I know my place now after many years of experiencing courteous gestures from members of the community. All documents will be passed after consultation. 

[Rayhan]

4 hours ago, Gakusee said:

Hmmm, a very contentious and risky subject all of a sudden. Let us just say that I am aware of various individuals and groups making various attempts at digitalising, translating, etc.

 

The above statement is wrong. If the definition of profit is clear (total gain arising out of the the difference by which revenue exceeds production costs, distribution cost and other costs and expenses of bringing the item to the end user) then to everyone it will be very clear that exercise was very likely a massive loss-making endeavour. 

 

Strong word of caution please: be very mindful of who owns the copyright to the text and the translation.... It is not the one who has paid for the translation (even though it might be believed to be so) or has purchased the published variant of the underlying text (eg hard copy of the Nado Zufu or a digital scan of it). Furthermore, the copyright to the underlying text also is owned by the original publisher and in the case of the Zufu, that is the NBTHK. The copyright of the translation remains with the translator, or potentially the publisher of the translated text (who likely separately paid the translator and obtained the sub-copyright from the translator, so that the publisher can subsequently package and sell the overall translated underlying text.)

 

Please be mindful of potentially breaching both sets of copyright and entering the zone of potential litigation... 

 

I shall stop here. 

On this note, I believe if the NBTHK wants to hold one in contempt they would have done so numerous times already. I met twice with them in 2017 and 2018 and both instances the consensus was "why do you need us to sign a release?" 

 

I think there is an educational aspect and a commercial aspect to consider from their side. They have been very clear that no matter what is out there in the west they still make commercial gain papering swords and fittings.

[Winchester]

Thank you, Kirill. I always enjoy your posts and would encourage you to write more. 
 

It’s a great service to the community and you’re very knowledgeable.

 

Kind regards,

 

Brian

 

[Rayhan]

I am attaching an interesting document from the past that shows a list of books the JSSUS would reference in the past. Perhaps some of them are still available in the ether. 

Book Library Catalog Issue A.pdf