Say that Bob wrote a paper that consists of the word, "industrialised". This is how the British English word is spelled. Now, say that Jerry wants to quote Bob on his paper. But Jerry speaks American English, and so he spells the word, "industrialized". Jerry changes the word to the American version. Can Bob take legal action (assuming he has full copyright protection), against Jerry for changing the dialect of the same language?
Asked
Active
Viewed 83 times
0
-
2How was Bob harmed by this? – Michael Hall Jan 21 '23 at 00:29
-
It's not a law of course, but it seems the Chicago Manual of Style addresses this by saying that when quoting something, spelling must not be changed. That is, if your publishing house style is US-English, and if you're following the CMOS, then when you quote something written in UK English or in that spelling, then you should keep it in the same spelling, and vice versa if your house style is UK English and you are quoting something written with American spelling. – Brandin Jan 26 '23 at 14:17
2 Answers
4
I know of no cause of action related to "misrepresentation of intellectual property" (I believe it may be a phrase used colloquially in the context of academic integrity). If such a cause of action exists, I'll leave it to another answer to discuss. This answer approaches your question through the lens of copyright infringement and moral rights.
A reproduction is an infringement if it substantially reproduces the original. Short quotes, properly attributed, will often be fair use, even if exactly reproduced.
If an exact reproduction is not an infringement (e.g. because it copied too short a phrase) or if it is fair use, then a slightly altered reproduction a fortiori would also not be an infringement or would be fair use.
In jurisdictions that recognize moral rights, there may be circumstances where an alteration, even to spelling, would be a violation of an author's moral rights. But to make out a violation of an author's moral rights based only on a spelling alteration, the spelling would have to be critical to the integrity of the work (e.g. perhaps the choice of dialect) and the alteration would have to be prejudicial to the author's honour or reputation.
Jen
- 54,294
- 5
- 110
- 242
1
If Jerry's misspelling caused harm to Bob (really hard to see how it could), Bob could sue Jerry. The prospects for success are slightly improved if a case can be made that Jerry impugned Bob's Britishness by this act, but only from 0% to 0.1%. You assert that Bob changed the spelling, but this is a question of fact that would have to be proven in court (since probably the publisher changed the spelling).
user6726
- 214,947
- 11
- 343
- 576
-
This reminds me of reading Stephen Pinker's Words and Rules, which I read in the UK edition. There were a few tremendously awkward phrases that I couldn't help but think were not actually Stephen Pinker's work but rather the result of an English editor trying desperately to adapt the North American language for the British market. I've always found such adaptations misguided and jarring. When an American protagonist describes something's "colour" rather than its "color," the character no longer seems American, and, worse, I am left to wonder what else of the text is not the author's. – phoog Jan 21 '23 at 09:00