MoUs for translation rights gain momentum at Chennai International Book Fair – The Hindu

The Chennai International Book Fair has seemingly had its desired effect as more and more publishers from Tamil Nadu and other countries are signing memoranda of understanding (MoU) for translation rights.

“The success is explained by the fact that in two days we could sign more than 100 MoUs for buying and selling of translation rights. Our initial apprehension and doubts about dealing with copyrights have been overcome by the proper procedure followed by our publishers,” said a publisher involved in the event.

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin is expected to release details of the numbers of MoUs signed when he participates in the valedictory of the three-day event on Wednesday. He will also release Tamil translations of five medical books. “They were published by internationally renowned publications and a team of 50 medical professors translated them,” said an official.

The State-owned Tamil Nadu Textbook And Educational Services Corporation also entered into an agreement with countries such as Uganda and Tanzania for selling translation rights for education and agriculture books. “We have also purchased the rights to the translation of the book, Bengali Language Movement and Creation of Bangladesh,” the official added.

Kannan Sundaram of Kalachuvadu publications said he had signed MoUs with stakeholders in countries including Turkey, France, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia. “We are also buying books from publishers of these countries while selling rights for translation of the works of Perumal Murugan and Sundara Ramaswamy,” he said.