NewStats: 3,265,553 , 8,187,194 topics. Date: Sunday, 15 June 2025 at 05:49 PM 5k706o

CoCoLav:
There is copyright in the translated version of a literary work. Most times the original author may assign that right to another person with an understanding. Nevertheless, even if permission was not obtained, Cyprain will still have copyright in the translated version because it satisfies the originality and fixation requirement albeit he might have infringed the original author's own copyright as well. This is not about plagiarism, he put efforts into translating it and the law recognizes that. It would be plagiarism if he reproduced it in Hausa.

I can decide to translate Shakespeare's works into Yoruba and make money off it and nobody will come after me.

You MUST reference it as a "translation". I don't need to be a lawyer to know your point was ludicrous.

Things fall apart for example was translated into many languages BUT the original authors were referenced while u will then see on the cover "translated into portuguese by....."

Even in textbooks where there are many contributors you only see the title: compiled by ******. Then usually there will be page listing all contributors.

I haven't read either book BUT I strongly believe it's worth investigating for the sake of justice.

The OP should forward it to the right channels.

HalfTruth:
[size=28pt]Yes[/size]


Same way PSquare plagiarizes other artists.

These people sha. Their "business" is importing fake china goods. Why won't anything else be copy copy with them?

abi ur madness want to graduate

Pig

CoCoLav:
There is copyright in the translated version of a literary work. Most times the original author may assign that right to another person with an understanding. Nevertheless, even if permission was not obtained, Cyprain will still have copyright in the translated version because it satisfies the originality and fixation requirement albeit he might have infringed the original author's own copyright as well. This is not about plagiarism, he put efforts into translating it and the law recognizes that. It would be plagiarism if he reproduced it in Hausa.

I can decide to translate Shakespeare's works into Yoruba and make money off it and nobody will come after me.

You are very wrong on this.

Plagiarism means you're misrepresenting earlier work as your own, a book or text contains more than mere words; they contain syntaxes, sequence, structures, narratives and much more. The original structure, sequence, characters and such may also be copyrightable, thus a translation would be a derivative work and a copyright infringement.

You must reference all works, yes facts and ideas can't be copyrighted but it would still be plagiarism if you took someone's book, translated it and did not reference earlier works along the lines you toured.


If Cyprian didn't reference it then i guess it was error of understanding the basic rules of copyright and i would be gutted if such an acclaimed writer made such a huge error.

MChaze25:

www.okadabooks.com

thank you

I cramming that book from chapter one to end. And when I recited it off hand at a school event it was just unbelievable as both pupils and teachers just have their jaws dropped in excitment. I don't know whether children still do that type of thing these days.

All Nigerian novelists plagiarized in one way or the other including Chinua Achebe. However, if Ekwensi's case is verbatim then an enquiry is very okay.

Plagiarism is not new. Who ever talks of J.F Kennedy's inauguration speech of 'ask not what your country can do for you, ask for what you can do for your country' as verbatim from a Nazi party slogan.

LikeJesus:
"Taking panadol for another person's headache ".

And it didn't occur to the OP that there probably must have been some kind of understanding between Cyprian Ekwensi and the original owner of the literary material?

Some people sha...

CoCoLav:
There is copyright in the translated version of a literary work. Most times the original author may assign that right to another person with an understanding. Nevertheless, even if permission was not obtained, Cyprain will still have copyright in the translated version because it satisfies the originality and fixation requirement albeit he might have infringed the original author's own copyright as well. This is not about plagiarism, he put efforts into translating it and the law recognizes that. It would be plagiarism if he reproduced it in Hausa.

I can decide to translate Shakespeare's works into Yoruba and make money off it and nobody will come after me.

wole Soyinka translated fagunwa's books to English and he acknowledged the original writer.
u can't just sit down and start plagiarizing someone's work into another language without the owner's permission.
China Achebe's book, things fall apart has been translated into different languages with each writer acknowledging the original author. not doing so is nothing short of plagiarism.

u can sit down in Nigeria and plagiarize Shakespeare works because:
1. Nigeria has no serious copyright laws.
2. the literary institution in Nigeria is weak filled with hungry authors, thus poor effort is made to scrutinize published work.
3. u can easily get ur book published by Oluwole-like publishers who care less about plagiarism.
4. ur book will most likely not go beyond the borders of Yoruba speaking states, so the consequences if the book garner international attention will most likely not suffice.

of course, you can recreate Romeo and Juliet in another language, using local content and your own original ideas, but for u to sit down and translate Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet verbatim without permission from the publishers or reference to the original author is nothing else but plagiarism.

rheether:
Maka obu onye igbo? Ndi ara.

Nne iji ya. Amam na oburu na o bu Onye be ha dere ya bu akwukwuo, ha agaghi ano ebea na akogheri

Dexema:
imagine, just look at people's comments. anyway I was privileged to read the book "an African nights entertainment " and it left a mark on me though I would love to read it again ( read it only once) . however, if Mr. ekwensi made such a large scale "shoplifting" of another man's idea without properly referencing him there's no two names for it. I hope the truth is found out (and I really hope uncle Cyprian took permission). my best of his books remain trouble in form six.

mine is the port of mallam ila

Redoil:
mine is the port of mallam ila

action packed novel that ended as a tragedy. drummer boy is also a wonderful piece. ,
I suggest you go through the thread on classic books by Ishilove , u will thoroughly enjoy it.

no wonder, the whole setting and names in the African Night Entertainment is completely Hausa, Cyprian...didnt even bother to change anything....

anyway no be today E start....have been seeing traces of MAGANA...JARI CE in some famous works too...

kindness4life:
Dear writer, I hope u did your home work very well before putting this up. Plagiarism is a serious crime and sensitive issue in the world of literature. Cyprian Ekwesi is a well respected writer as we all know. Why not find a way of ing him maybe by email or something to hear his own side of the story before conclusions are made.

he died 9 years ago

CoCoLav:
There is copyright in the translated version of a literary work. Most times the original author may assign that right to another person with an understanding. Nevertheless, even if permission was not obtained, Cyprain will still have copyright in the translated version because it satisfies the originality and fixation requirement albeit he might have infringed the original author's own copyright as well. This is not about plagiarism, he put efforts into translating it and the law recognizes that. It would be plagiarism if he reproduced it in Hausa.

I can decide to translate Shakespeare's works into Yoruba and make money off it and nobody will come after me.

Beauty meet brains I guess. you just nailed it Cocolav. I couldn't have explained it any better even as a member of the literature world. Cyprian Ekwensi was a magnificent writer with deep fictional reserves. He wouldn't have stooped so low without due recourse to the law. Keep it up babe, would b following ur posts and comments henceforth

CoCoLav:
There is copyright in the translated version of a literary work. Most times the original author may assign that right to another person with an understanding. Nevertheless, even if permission was not obtained, Cyprain will still have copyright in the translated version because it satisfies the originality and fixation requirement albeit he might have infringed the original author's own copyright as well. This is not about plagiarism, he put efforts into translating it and the law recognizes that. It would be plagiarism if he reproduced it in Hausa.

I can decide to translate Shakespeare's works into Yoruba and make money off it and nobody will come after me.

You can decide to make money off Shakespeare's works in English too as there is no outstanding copyright on Shakespeare. However, it is illegal to translate an author's work into another language without permission.

I agree with Cocolav. Cyprian Ekwensi may be assigned rights to publish the book in English. A respected author like Ekwensi would not plagiarise. He was an icon.

For the best of Cyprian Ekwensi's works: Lokotown and other stories, Trouble in form six, the drummer boy, Jagua Nana's daughter, The port of Mallam Ilia, check my signature. Prompt delivery throughout Nigeria.

Fresia01:
Cyprian was a great writer....buh let me ask u...y are u crying more than d bereaved??

Seriously? We are talking about legendary works, people we model after and study their thinking faculty and analyze their thought process.

Really? In other clime, discovering this type of flaws makes u a celebrity already. Origination is very key in literature and other diverse areas of interest.

CoCoLav:
There is copyright in the translated version of a literary work. Most times the original author may assign that right to another person with an understanding. Nevertheless, even if permission was not obtained, Cyprain will still have copyright in the translated version because it satisfies the originality and fixation requirement albeit he might have infringed the original author's own copyright as well. This is not about plagiarism, he put efforts into translating it and the law recognizes that. It would be plagiarism if he reproduced it in Hausa.

I can decide to translate Shakespeare's works into Yoruba and make money off it and nobody will come after me.

No ma'am. You can't just decide to translate Shakespeare's works without obtaining permission from the legal body(s) handling his affairs and without referencing him in your works. That's intellectual theft. The bolded statement is very very wrong, "even if permission was not obtained"? Then it is plagiarism, simple.

@Op..
I totally doubt a renown and respectable writer like Cyprain Ekwensi would just pick-up and copy a book 100% without some form of acknowledgement or proper agreement with the original author. Besides if Cyprain plagiarised the book, we wouldn't be hearing about this case for the first time in 2016, a dispute would have been raised decades ago.

but Mr Cyprian is dead now, so who do we sue now?, or can he be sued post humously?

Morizo:

Beauty meet brains I guess. you just nailed it Cocolav. I couldn't have explained it any better even as a member of the literature world. Cyprian Ekwensi was a magnificent writer with deep fictional reserves. He wouldn't have stooped so low without due recourse to the law. Keep it up babe, would b following ur posts and comments henceforth

LOL. I'm sorry, but this is pure a55-licking. It'd have sounded a bit reasonable if you had come up with a solid backup point. "He wouldn't have stooped so low.." is just your own opinion, you haven't met him and you didn't know him when he was alive.

CoCoLav:
There is copyright in the translated version of a literary work. Most times the original author may assign that right to another person with an understanding. Nevertheless, even if permission was not obtained, Cyprain will still have copyright in the translated version because it satisfies the originality and fixation requirement albeit he might have infringed the original author's own copyright as well. This is not about plagiarism, he put efforts into translating it and the law recognizes that. It would be plagiarism if he reproduced it in Hausa.

I can decide to translate Shakespeare's works into Yoruba and make money off it and nobody will come after me.

You spoke my mind.
I wonder when plagiarism includes translation and not copying word to word.

adioolayi:
You can help him go to Court

Later they will start comparing Daddy Wole Soyinka to others.#Istandwithexcellence #Istandagainstplagiarism.

Paretomaster:
no wonder, the whole setting and names in the African Night Entertainment is completely Hausa, Cyprian...didnt even bother to change anything....

anyway no be today E start....have been seeing traces of MAGANA...JARI CE in some famous works too...

Don't be narrow minded.
Just because OP alleged something(without proof) and the setting of the book is in Hausa made the allegation true.
Before you jump into conclusion, at least try and find out more about the author and his works.
The port of Mallam Ilia is set in Hausa land too

EazyMoh:
[b]I was reading a thread earlier reminiscing with great pleasure when I received the shock of the year. The thread was hosted by the supermod himself Ishilove nairaland.macsoftware.info/3228867/nairalanders-how-many--these the thread was about classic novels written in English language.
What caught my attention was the book titled African Night's Entertainment'. Having read both the Hausa and the English versions, I never paid attention to the discrepancy in the names of the authors until I saw it on the thread. I zoomed in the picture of the book to make sure I saw the name of the author correctly. I quickly googled and I was shocked to find out that while the Hausa version 'Jiki Magayi' was authored by John Tafida Umaru and co-authored by popular Hausa writer Rupert East, the English version was claimed to be written by Cyprian Ekwensi!
I simply added John Tafida in the search and I came through this article written by one Ibrahim Musa. I searched further but couldn't find any tangible action taken against this greatest plagiarism of all times in Africa, in fact in the world of literature.
PS for those who can read Hausa if you haven't read the Tafida's version try to do and compare.
When Jiki Magayi was first authored, Cyprian Ekwensi was twelve years old![/b]

www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/art-ideas/ekwensi-s-an-african-night-entertainment-and-john-tafida-s-jiki-magayi/130379.html

[size=14pt]Who published Jiki Magayi and what were the of his publishing agreement ? This is what should be your focus and not who wrote what ? Publishing are never always the same.
1. If the original writer sold it outright to the publisher , the publisher can assign another writer to write the translation or rewrite the book without giving any credit or money to the original writer. I have previously sold two books to a foreign writer under this sort of agreement with full understanding of the consequences.
2. Have you ever asked who John Tafida Umaru is/was ? The person may not exist and might have just been created by the publisher for the purpose of localising the book. Does he/she have any other literary credit apart from this book ?
3. Was Jiki Magayi still in copyright when Ekwensi did the translation? Copyright typically expires 50 years after the death of the author, if not renewed,
Check the facts properly . Don't criticise unduly.

Most of Wole Soyinka's plays are not original by the way. They are brilliant adaptations of nearly forgotten classics . His plays were good and became famous, made him famous. They were not original in any case and the families of Greek authors who have been dead for centuries are not looking all over for the Nobel Laureate to sue,[/size]

He should go to Amadioha , he will link him up to Ekwensi

SIRTee15:


which Cyprian ekwensi will he .....
someone that died nine years ago

CoCoLav:
There is copyright in the translated version of a literary work. Most times the original author may assign that right to another person with an understanding. Nevertheless, even if permission was not obtained, Cyprain will still have copyright in the translated version because it satisfies the originality and fixation requirement albeit he might have infringed the original author's own copyright as well. This is not about plagiarism, he put efforts into translating it and the law recognizes that. It would be plagiarism if he reproduced it in Hausa.

I can decide to translate Shakespeare's works into Yoruba and make money off it and nobody will come after me.

Sure, you can translate Shakespeare's work and nobody will come after you cuz of the statutory limits but if you try that with a living author's work, you could be sued. For more details; http://bookwormtranslations.com/copyright-law-and-translation-what-you-need-to-know/

Then He should consult Amadioha , he will link him up to Ekwensi

SIRTee15:


which Cyprian ekwensi will he .....
someone that died nine years ago

Redoil:
mine is the port of mallam ila

I read that book in my JS 1.
You need to see the excitement and quietness my classroom experiences during the time my English teacher reads that novel to my class. Given that my class is always noisy, it's only the port of Mallam Ilia that restores sanity to my class then as everybody listens with rapt attention.

am guessing you really believed Mr Ekwensi did this based on the part of Nigeria he comes from...
because he is IBO...you are strongly convinced such a writer would do that...
but you don't know that for a fact...
you weren't there when the book was published...
so you don't know the circumstances surrounding it...
what if he took permission before? that's if he actually did this...
and why are just hearing it after so many years?
Stop this! stereotyping ain't healthy...
We should all one another instead of trying to divide this country with malicious lies...

perojelly:
he did and he should be sued if he doesnt acknowledge d real source

cyprian died some years ago abi na him grave you wan serve court paper?

Bluetooth2:


You are a shame to Nigeria, your ethnic group, your family, and to the whole world.

This case should be properly investigated just like Philip emeagwali was busted for his lies. Bunch of buttwipes !

You are a disgraceful yolowba pig, hatred and envy will not allow you reason outside your butt hole. Your attempt to discredit Emeagwali is DOA and can NEVER fly, unless of course to envious and mischievous fellows like the baboons who liked your comment and the yolowba writer who attempted to discredit Emeagwali

what about translation works by Ola rotimi, wole Soyinka etal? so they are plagiarism too?


Why not your apc lawyer Femi falana to sue Ekwensi?


shameless doofus