Poll: Would you consider selling your TM(s) to other translators?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Jan 11, 2019

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Would you consider selling your TM(s) to other translators?".

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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 07:06
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other Jan 11, 2019

I don’t work with CAT tools, but I wonder why would I be so desperate to sell an asset containing terminology that I’ve researched carefully and sweated over for hours? Isn’t that like selling my competitive edge? What about TMs provided by clients? What about TMs full of confidential information? My questions could go on and on…

vixen
neilmac
Christine Andersen
Vera Schoen
Gibril Koroma
Henriette Saffron (X)
Paul van Zijll
 
Jan Truper
Jan Truper  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 08:06
Member (2016)
English to German
No Jan 11, 2019

It would constitute a NDA violation.

Michael Harris
Maja_K
vixen
Thayenga
Christine Andersen
neilmac
Angus Stewart
 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 08:06
Spanish to English
+ ...
Other Jan 11, 2019

LOL. They are about as organised as my desktop (i.e. cluttered) and I can't imagine them being of any use to anyone else, although I am fond of them

Christopher Schröder
Angie Garbarino
samah A. fattah
Yaotl Altan
 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 08:06
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
No Jan 11, 2019

A lot of the content is not mine to sell.

Some TMs have segments from way back, when Trados could only handle one or two TMs at a time, and of course, anything I wanted to keep and refer to later went into the main TM. The same applies to some TMs I have received from trusted colleagues and agencies. The content is actually theirs, or it belongs to our clients down the years.

OK, I keep the TMs because some of the content, segment by segment, is not so specific to this
... See more
A lot of the content is not mine to sell.

Some TMs have segments from way back, when Trados could only handle one or two TMs at a time, and of course, anything I wanted to keep and refer to later went into the main TM. The same applies to some TMs I have received from trusted colleagues and agencies. The content is actually theirs, or it belongs to our clients down the years.

OK, I keep the TMs because some of the content, segment by segment, is not so specific to this or that client, and there are sections of law and other texts that are in the public domain, but it would be impossible to extract them without finding client-specific and subject-specific material.

I cannot vouch for the relevance of everything in my TMs: they are a ragbag. I do check through occasionally for content that is out of date when I become aware of it, but there is still a lot of dead wood. I look at each segment that comes up as I work. Sometimes I am delighted to find a treasure from way back. On other occasions I delete a series of outdated segments, and I may make a not to do it more systematically later, but I do not have time to give my TMs an end-to-end overhaul.

I don't think my TMs are that special anyway.
A far better idea would be to find suitable documents, then edit and align them. By selecting sections and deleting others, it would be possible to remove sensitive material like names and addresses, which are superfluous in a TM anyway, and the resulting TMs would be easier to maintain.


[Edited at 2019-01-11 09:42 GMT]
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Justin Peterson
Justin Peterson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 08:06
Member (2007)
Spanish to English
Is that an offer? Jan 11, 2019

How much are you willing to pay?

 
Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 08:06
Member
English to French
No Jan 11, 2019

I would be much more interested in selling all the junk that's catching dust in a number of sheds and rooms in my place.
At least it would make space compared to TM selling.

Philippe


Eckhard Boehle
Angie Garbarino
 
Ricki Farn
Ricki Farn
Germany
Local time: 08:06
English to German
No Jan 11, 2019

If I had any TMs that were mine to sell (and as people have already said: for assorted NDA/copyright/IP reasons, I do not), I would give them away for free to select colleagues, but not sell them. The same way I pass on "business leads" but do not sell them.

Some things are like colouring in all the little art nouveau cast-iron flowers on the side of the stairs - either I do them for free, or I don't do them at all.

Treppenhausblumen


Nadia Silva Castro
Eckhard Boehle
Angie Garbarino
Abraham Abukar
 
Axelle H.
Axelle H.  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 08:06
English to French
No Jan 11, 2019

Even if I want to give them, I must clean them first (part of my new year resolution).

 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 08:06
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
Where's the 'love it!' button? Jan 11, 2019

Ricki Farn wrote:

If I had any TMs that were mine to sell (and as people have already said: for assorted NDA/copyright/IP reasons, I do not), I would give them away for free to select colleagues, but not sell them. The same way I pass on "business leads" but do not sell them.

Some things are like colouring in all the little art nouveau cast-iron flowers on the side of the stairs - either I do them for free, or I don't do them at all.



No, seriously, this isn't FB, but I think they're beautiful!


Nadia Silva Castro
Jennifer Forbes
Jane Ellis
Angie Garbarino
Angus Stewart
 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 04:06
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
We can't do that! Jan 12, 2019

Most of our TM's are contents we have signed NDA's for and were already paid for. Theoretically we can't sell them.
If we could sell them, the price would be too high for anyone to pay, anyway.
So I'm thinking about how I can make tham public before I die. I'll probably save it in some cloud and give the password to some friends.


 


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Poll: Would you consider selling your TM(s) to other translators?






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