Coetzee cuts up rough
Saeed Kamali Dehghan in Tehran
The Observer, Sunday September 7 2008
Nobel laureate JM Coetzee is not the first writer to discover that his work has been published without consent in Iran - a country that regularly incurs wrath by not abiding by international copyright law - but he might well be the angriest. ‘It’s not solely for the sake of money that authors are concerned to maintain copyright over their works,’ he stormed to the Browser. ‘But it does upset writers, justifiably, when their books are taken over without permission, translated by amateurs and sold without their knowledge.’ Quite right, Coetzee, it’s a disgrace!
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Also related, but not published:
The 2003 Nobel Laureate JM Coetzee objected his works in Iran after being informed that almost all his works, including Waiting for the Barbarians, Disgrace and Life and Times of Michael K have been translated into Persian and published in the country without his consent, during last ten year.
Coetzee, in an official statement addressing Iranian publishers said: “It is not solely for the sake of money and sometimes not for the sake of money at all, that authors are concerned to assert and maintain copyright over their works.”
Iran does not obey copyright law. Many classics and internationally bestselling titles are translated and published in the country without its author’s permission.
“I know of many writers - myself included - who ask only for nominal payment from altruistic publishers who are struggling to sell books in difficult markets. But it does upset writers, justifiably, when their books are taken over without permission, translated by amateurs, and sold without their knowledge”, states Coetzee.
At the same time, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government is cracking down on Iranian writers through huge censorship and not giving them permission for the publication. Iranian writers face immense challenges in getting their works read.
More links: The gag is tightened, The Guardian