HCM CITY — The Vang Anh Culture Company early this year bought the rights to translate and publish TKKG, a well-known detective series written by German Stefan Wolf.
The first book of the series will be on sale in bookshops around the country this month.
TKKG, which has been translated and published in more than 100 countries, tells about a group of four teenagers who call themselves TKKG, after the initials of their names, Tim, Karl, Klumpling and Gaby.
Since initial publication in 1979, the teenagers have solved all sorts of crimes, from thefts and robberies to kidnappings and terrorist acts.
Beginning 13 years ago, the series was translated and printed unlicensed by a Vietnamese publisher.
Without a copyright, Vietnamese translators made many changes to the series, including turning Tim into a superman and the head of the group. The other three characters played only minor roles.
"The changes confused us when we talked online with children in other countries about the series," said 15-year-old Truong Manh Ha.
"With a copyright from a German publishing house, young readers in Viet Nam will be able to read the series translated from the original, without any changes to its content," said an official of Vang Anh Co., who declined to disclose the amount of the copyright fee.
Copyright law
Many Vietnamese publishers for years were able to translate and print books without paying royalties or even asking for permission.
Domestic publishing houses began purchasing publication copyrights from their foreign counterparts after Viet Nam became a signatory to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, which calls for the protection of copyrighted works.
Doraemon, Japan's well-known comic which seized the imagination of young Vietnamese readers since its debut in 1992, was also re-published this summer.
The comic written by Fujiko Fujio is a story about a robotic car sent back to the past to save the child Nobita Nobi from poverty.
Doraemon was translated and published unlicensed in Viet Nam in the past under the name Doremon.
The translation was based on the English-language version of the comic published in Thailand.
In 1996 Kim Dong (Children's) Publisher began negotiations with Japan's Shogankukan Publishing Co. to buy the copyright to translate and publish the comic.
However, unable to meet several demands set by Shogankukan, the domestic publisher then proposed to Fujiko Fujio to use profits earned from Doremon's publication for the Doremon Fund to Promote Reading Among Vietnamese Students.
With Fujio's approval, Kim Dong obtained the copyright to translate and publish the comic, one of the world's best sellers over a decade ago.
The Vietnamese publisher, however, continued to translate the comic from the English version imported from Thailand.
More than 200 books of the series have been translated and published in Viet Nam in the past 18 years.
The first book of Doraemon appeared in bookshops around the country last week. The names of the comic's characters will be the same as they're in the original, Shizuka, Suneo or Jaian.
"We love the comic. Its name, Doremon or Doraemon, does not bother us," fifth-grader Sao Mai said. — VNS