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Publication of the ‘Report on the economic value of book translation’ in Spain
Publication of the ‘Report on the economic value of book translation’ in Spain
4 Aug, 2017
Tags: Spain

ACE Traductores (http://ace-traductores NULL.org/) (Spain) has presented a Report on the economic value of book translation, prepared by the consulting agency AFI and financed by the Ministry of Culture and CEDRO, the main Spanish Reproduction Rights Centre.

Its main objective was to “check, get to know and quantify the economic value of book translation in Spain, taking into account not only the publishing figures but also the total amount of sales, whose impact, in the absence of statistics, is presumably higher”.

These are some of the results. The amount of translated titles launched onto the market every year ranges between 16% and 27%. According to the report, this corresponds to the 35% of the publishing houses’ annual turnover, i.e. 294 million euros approximately. However, due to the decrease in their fees, translators have seen a huge drop in their purchasing power.

Around 75% of the publishing market is controlled by ten companies or publishing groups. They comission most of the translation work, and so the contracts they usually offer leave no space for negotiation. They are able to proceed in this way because there are far more translators than there is work available.

The report also reveals the existence of an astonishing opacity in the market: translators have to accept in good faith the royalty statement issued by the publisher. Too often, the translators have to request them, since it is very likely that the royalty clause in the contracts has been breached.

In its conclusions, the consulting agency makes some recommendations to guarantee compliance with the current legislation, and to achieve better performance on the part of a sector that is so important to the Spanish economy.

To read and/or download the white paper, please click here (https://www NULL.dropbox NULL.com/s/ocsycg5olvcrgj8/Informe%20del%20valor%20económico%20de%20la%20traducción%20editorial NULL.pdf?dl=0) (in Spanish).

You can also read some related news in English (https://slator NULL.com/industry-news/the-plight-of-spains-literary-translators/), Italian (http://www NULL.giornaledellalibreria NULL.it/news-mercato-quanto-vale-la-traduzione-editoriale-in-spagna-3076 NULL.html) and Spanish.

Oscar Sáenz de Santamaría, General Director of the Spanish Book Industry (centre left) and Carlos Fortea, President of the Spanish Association ACEtt (centre right) at the presentation of the report in Madrid

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