I'd Like a Real Translation, Please

From ABC Corp. v. Partnerships & Unincorporated Ass'ns Identified on Schedule A (one of the many recently filed cases involving alleged mass copyright infringement by apparently off-shore businesses), decided Dec. 19 by Judge Joan Gottschall (N.D. Ill.) but just posted to Westlaw:

Before the court is plaintiff's motion for leave to proceed temporarily under a pseudonym and for leave to file under seal the complaint, the accompanying exhibits, plaintiff's Local Rule 3.2 notice of affiliates, and its anticipated motion for a temporary restraining order. Plaintiff relies heavily on translations of a Chinese-language website to support its motion. One of plaintiff's attorneys created these translations using the Microsoft Edge web browser's automatic translation service. There is no indication that anyone with knowledge of the Chinese language reviewed the computer-generated translations created by plaintiff's lawyer. The Chinese-to-English translations plaintiff has filed are therefore inadmissible under the "well-established rule that a document in a foreign language is generally inadmissible unless accompanied by a certified English translation."

Additionally, questions of a translation's reliability and accuracy go to its weight and credibility rather than its admissibility. The court does not know what the emphasized portion of the following passage means: "TWO NEW BRANDS FILED! A POPULAR ANIMATION AND AN ILLUSTRATION WORK, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE FACT THAT IT IS NOT FROZEN AND QUICKLY REMOVE THE SHELF TO WITHDRAW CASH." Two additional examples are: (1) "GBC AGENT GENERAL MOTORS A NEW WAVE OF CASES TO ATTACK, GMC TRADEMARK RIGHTS PROTECTION, JUST OCCURRED, SELLERS PAY ATTENTION TO VIEW!" and (2) "HSP AGENT CASIO, HAS NOT YET BEGUN TO FREEZE, THE SELLER QUICKLY CHECKED AND REMOVED!" What these statements mean is not apparent and has not been explained. These statements could indicate either that the translation is unreliable or that the translation is reliable, but the website is ambiguous in context.

Because plaintiff relies on inadmissible and potentially unreliable translations of foreign-language documents, its motion for leave to proceed temporarily under a pseudonym and for leave to file certain documents under seal is denied without prejudice. Plaintiff may renew its motion on or before January 3, 2023, and may proceed under a pseudonym until the court rules on its renewed motion. All documents filed provisionally under seal shall remain sealed until the court rules on plaintiff's anticipated renewed motion to seal.

Plaintiffs apparently remedied the problem, and the court did issue a preliminary injunction; plaintiff was also allowed to proceed temporarily under pseudonym until seven days after a temporary restraining order was issued, and has now been identified as Sega of America, Inc.

Comments

[John F. Carr]

The links in the post above are broken.

The docket is on courtlistener at https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/66654202/abc-corporation-v-the-partnerships-and-unincorporated-associations/

[Eugene Volokh]

Sorry, fixed, thanks!

[Syd Henderson]

Sounds like the seller was terminated with extreme prejudice. An extreme overreaction.

[John F. Carr]

What credentials are required for a court to accept a translation? Can I use somebody I happen to know who speaks two languages well?

[OtisAH]

Presumably there’s a list of verified and approved translators and/or a way for translators to become certified as to their expertise.

[Dr. Ed 2]

With Asian languages, I can see dueling translators with different translations.

[Heresolong]

Presumably if the translation made sense and if there were no objections, it would be accepted, regardless of who translated it.

[Bill Poser]

The court should not accept such translations. Merely knowing two languages well is not sufficient to make one a good translator. In addition to the fact that translation is a skill beyond mere knowledge of the languages, there is the fact that even fluent speakers may not know the terminology of particular areas and may not understand what kind of translation is required in particular contexts. i know of a case, for example, in which the interpreter at trial gave what were effectively English summaries of the defendant's testimony rather than a full translation.

[John F. Carr]

I understand that translation might not be good. Could it be used in a motion? Admissibility, not weight.

[SRG]

Gratitude are given for man academic Volokh Eugene for item on stress of conversion immediately.

[Ridgeway]

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[Rossami]

Why was a corporation allowed to file pseudonymously, even temporarily? What of the possible justification for pseudonymous filing can possibly apply to a corporation?

[Brett Bellmore]

I suppose just about anyone is allowed to file pseudonymously initially, if only to give them an opportunity to explain why they think their identity should be protected without having to first expose it.

That said, I can't really see much potential for a corporation to prevail when it gets to the point of having to explain.

[Longtobefree]

Are we getting a hint to the origin of 'our' bots?

[Fred2515]

Hi, friend. If you need a real and high-quality translation. I can recommend one cool service that I got from English To Chinese Translation for my term paper. This was very important to me. And I needed to translate academic material very close to the original. And thanks to this service, everything turned out very well.

[Champion]

My friend, you’ve covered a very interesting situation, and people there really need a very good translator. When I traveled to different countries for work, I ordered a personal translator, he even write me a personal statement, which I then passed on to project managers, and I must say that I was probably lucky with translators and they always turned out to be as knowledgeable and professional as possible. So I can only say one thing: let them do their best to find a competent translator.