Is it so bad to cheat? I mean there are a lot of ways to advertise, create and so on online. But creating a new site/blog is always leading for the same question = frequently updated content and where to find something smart and how not to waste hours on writing it yousel??? Well, for those who know more than one language it is really easy to find some relevant in one language and translate it to another language. Advantages are apparent, if you know at least two languages you can easily translate it and the second one is that it will take you less time. Is it so bad to do this?))) And just now I've had the a thought that maybe many of copywriters do this trick? what do you think?
anything is possible, including (but not limited to) dishonest people who sell the same material over, and over, and over again
but translation makes the text unique and translating you can add something by yourself thereby becoming a co-author )))
Well, as I see it, it isn't much of a cheat. The rankings for the translated page will be different from the original source- because how many times do you use Google.cn? Probably not much- and that is where a translated copy might be, for instance. It's dishonest, but who cares. It isn't hurting you. (I actually had a few people contact me, wanting to translate some of my content into Spanish in exchange for a link back- I agreed.)
I totally agree with you, Vertigoflow. Although translating content and uploading it without permission may be not illegal in some coutries, it is still cheating in the strict sense...
Ethically, yes you are ripping someone off. You're stealing his intellectual property and passing it off as your own regardless of whether or not you're translating it. Practically though, it may work pretty well because you can get away almost all the time, no questions asked. I speak three languages myself but I never do this sort of thing because there's thing feeling somewhere deep down that keeps irking me everytime I think of so much as borrowing from newspapers
The bold part is what I have an issue with. If everyone has your lack of caring when it came to being honest, the world would be even worse than it already is. As a writer Zac, I would expect more from you. It's one thing to agree to allow your own articles to be translated. It's another thing entirely for someone to rip off someone's article and translate it into a different language. Just because it's in a different language doesn't make it right. The person who stole the content would still be violating copyright laws.
It is wrong in more ways than one. Even if you never got caught by the original writer, you may get caught by your readers/visitors. Once you build a reputation of someone who steals others material, you will be branded like that. You site will be devalued by the very people you are trying to attract. On the ethical sense, is it wrong to steal money of the person left it out in the open? Writers work hard and should not have their work stolen by others. If you want to copy the work, ask permission and offer a link back to the original author. Any other way is wrong and Karma has a way coming back to bite you.
What a surprising question, and some surprising "cheating is OK" responses. Everyone knows the answer from an ethical perspective. To the OP: As someone who knows more than one language, why not try to sell your translation services to webmasters? I for one would be happy to purchase an excellent service in this regard. ~tasty
cheating to me is like saying you are unable to do something and giving up on trying. Don´t cheat, you can succeed honestly if you want to and put your mind to it.
I'm surprised by the cheating is okay if you can get away with it type replies. Cheating is cheating, cheating is bad - even children know that. People translate books all the time, the British author Terry Pratchett for instance has sold 50 million books worldwide, and they have been translated into many different languages. In the translated version the books, any books, display the author as usual with a Translated By under that. You should apply the same rule online, seeing as it's no different really, copyright I mean - translate someone's work by all means, then tell them you've done it and, if they don't mind, which I doubt they will, stick their name (and website perhaps) on as the author and your own name on as the translator. Everyone's happy and you still get your unique content. P.S. This could still win you praise in reverse, because if they want to use your translation of their work they need to put your name with a Translated By.