Copyright law relegates translation to a secondary, or derivative, status, which means that publishing
a translation requires the permission of the rights holder of the original. This thesis argues for the timeliness
of revisiting the translation right by analyzing its foundations and its implications from a transdisciplinary
public policy perspective. This is done by first studying the historical and philosophical foundations of
copyright law itself where the translation right is housed, revealing questionable philosophical arguments and a
colonial past that has created legal path dependencies.
The thesis then undertakes an examination of the foundations of the translation right specifically, dubbed
"the international issue par excellence," which confirms the same pattern observed in the development of
copyright law. Given the complete absence of the translator's perspective from all international
discussions on the translation right, copyright's view of translation is then contrasted with recent scholarship
in translation theory, with a special focus on the notion of agency(-ies), exposing the incompatibility of these
views on translation, and highlighting the importance of including the perspective of translation studies in
policies and laws related to translation.
The last part of the thesis explores the present-day realities of knowledge societies, digital technologies,
and globalization, in order to identify the role of translation today and in the future, while
highlighting the tremendous gaps between the have's and the have-not's, and the necessity of recognizing the
specificities of different societies. Knowledge is the new capital of the world, and the translation right is an
impediment to the key role translation can potentially play in allowing societies to participate in the cycle of
its consumption and regeneration. Digital technologies are powerful enablers that have allowed those who
have leveraged and embraced them, such as the open movement and prosumers of all types, to
transform the nature of their interactions with their environment macro- and microstructurally. This has also
been reflected in the profession of translation, where collaborative projects are constantly initiated, while the
nature of the translator's work is changing to the point where one seriously doubts whether the provisions of
the century-old translation right still apply to it. The discussion on globalization focuses on language in a
globalized world, power relations between linguistic communities, and means of preserving linguistic
diversity and heritage.
