Terms and conditions: TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING

  1. Copyright in Source Material, and Translation Rights

1.1 The Translator accepts a Translation Task from the Client on the understanding that performance of the Translation Task will not infringe any Third-Party rights.

1.2 The Client shall indemnify the Translator against any loss, injury or damage (including legal costs and expenses and compensation paid by the Translator to compromise or settle any claim) which the Translator suffers as a consequence of any breach or alleged breach of any of the above warranties or as a consequence of any claim that the Source Material contains anything objectionable, libellous, blasphemous or obscene or which constitutes an infringement of copyright or of any other rights of any Third Party.

  1. Fees

2.1 The fee to be charged shall be determined by the Translator on the basis of the Client’s description of the Source Material, the purpose of the Translation and any instructions given by the Client.

2.2 Any fee agreed for a Translation which is found to present latent special difficulties of which neither party could be reasonably aware at the time of offer and acceptance shall be renegotiated.

2.3 If any changes are made in the text or the Client’s requirements at any time while the Translation Task is in progress, the Translator’s fee, any applicable supplementary charges and the terms of delivery shall be adjusted in respect of the additional work.

  1. Payment

3.1 Payment in full to the Translator shall be effected no later than thirty (30) days from the date of invoice by the method of payment specified.

3.2 For long Assignments or texts, as well as new clients, the Translator may request an initial payment and periodic partial payments on terms to be agreed.

3.3 Settlement of any invoice, part-invoice or other payment shall be made by the due date agreed between the Parties or in the absence of such agreement within the period stipulated in clause 3.1.

3.4 Where delivery is in instalments and notice has been given that an interim payment is overdue, the Translator shall have the right to stop working on the Translation Task at hand until the outstanding payment is made or other terms agreed.

3.5 Any payment that is not made before the due date shall bear interest at the rate of 4,857% as stipulated in Notice 235/2018 by the Portuguese Tax Office calculated on a daily basis from the date when such payment fell due until the date of payment.

3.6 This action shall be without prejudice to any sums due and without any liability whatsoever to the Client or any Third Party.

  1. Copyright in Translations

4.1 In the absence of a specific written agreement to the contrary, copyright in the Translation remains the property of the Translator.

4.2 Where the Translator retains the copyright, unless otherwise agreed in writing, any published text of the Translation shall carry the following statement: “© (English) text (Translator’s name) (Year date)” as appropriate to the particular case.

4.3 Where the Translator assigns the copyright to the Translation and the Translation is subsequently printed for distribution, the Client shall acknowledge the Translator’s work in the same weight and style of type as used for acknowledgement of the printer and/or others involved in production of the finished document, by the following statement: “(English) Translation by (Translator’s name)”, as appropriate to the particular case.

4.4 If a Translation is in any way amended or altered without the written permission of the Translator, he/she shall not be in any way liable for amendments made or their consequences.

4.5 If the Translator retains the copyright in a Translation, or if a Translation is to be used for legal purposes, no amendment or alteration may be made to a Translation without the Translator’s written permission. The right of integrity may be specifically waived in advance by the Translator in writing.

  1. Complaints and Disputes

5.1 Any complaint in connection with a Translation Task shall be notified to the Translator by the Client (or vice-versa) within one month of the date of delivery of the Translation.

9.4 If a dispute cannot be resolved amicably between the Parties, or if either Party refuses to accept arbitration, the Parties shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of Portugal. In any event this Agreement shall be construed in accordance with Portuguese law.

6 Responsibility and Liability

6.1 The Translation Task shall be carried out by the Translator using reasonable skill and care and in accordance with the provisions and spirit of the Code of Professional Conduct of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting.

6.2 Time and expense permitting, the Translator shall use his or her reasonable commercial endeavours to do the work to the best of his or her ability, knowledge and belief, and consulting such authorities as are reasonably available to him/her at the time.

6.3 Subject to clause 6.4, a Translation shall be fit for its stated purpose and target readership, and the level of quality specified.

6.4 Unless specified otherwise, Translations shall be deemed to be of “for information” quality only.

6.5 Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as seeking to restrict a Party’s liability for personal injury or death arising from its own negligence.

6.6 Subject to clause 6.5, the liability of the Translator under or in respect of this Agreement, whether in tort, contract or otherwise, shall be limited to the cost of the Translation Task being undertaken when the liability arises.

6.7 Neither Party shall be liable to the other in respect of any consequential or indirect loss whatsoever

  1. Applicability and Integrity

7.1 This Agreement shall come into effect either (1) when the Client signs this contract; or (2) when the Client confirms the Assignment via email; or (3) when the Translator provides any services under the Agreement, whichever is the earlier.

7.2 This Agreement may be subject to any detailed requirements or variants expressly specified in the order relating to a particular Translation Task.

7.3 No waiver of any breach of any condition in this Agreement shall be considered as a waiver of any subsequent breach of the same or any other provision.

General conditions of work

  1. Contracts shall always be concluded directly between the interpreter and either the conference organiser, or else an intermediary duly entrusted by the conference organiser with the contractual and financial responsibility of recruiting interpreters.
  1. The functions of the interpreter shall exclude the written translation of texts; they shall therefore be confined to the interpretation of spoken proceedings and shall not cover any event not specifically provided for in the contract. The interpreter shall be bound by the strictest professional secrecy. The interpreter shall be morally responsible for the integrity of his or her work and shall not bow to any pressure in performing it. Persons not belonging to the team of interpreters may not be used as interpreters to complement that team, or otherwise make use of the interpretation channels of the simultaneous interpretation equipment without the prior consent of the consulting interpreter or head of team. The distribution of work among the members of the team will be established by the interpreters themselves.
  1. A day’s interpretation shall not normally last for longer than two periods of 2½ to 3 hours each and separated by a break of at least 1½ hours. If this length of time is likely to be exceeded, the convenor shall authorise either the reinforcement of the interpreters’ team in advance, or else their replacement by a fresh team.
  1. The services of the interpreter shall as a general rule be provided solely for direct and immediate use by the listeners; no recording may be made, either by the listeners or anyone else, without the prior consent of the interpreters concerned. Copyright and all other intellectual property rights in the interpretation shall be vested in the interpreter. The interpretation may not be broadcast on radio, television, the Internet or any other medium without the prior written consent of the interpreters concerned. Any re-use of the interpretation, including availability via the Internet, shall be subject to written agreement between the organiser and the interpreters. The organiser shall indemnify the interpreter against any claims arising from the re-use of the interpretation.
  1. For their technical and terminological preparation, the organiser shall send the interpreters a complete set of documents (programme, agenda, minutes of the previous meeting, reports, etc.) in each of the working languages of the conference as early as possible, but not later than 15 days before the beginning of the conference.

If a text has to be read aloud during the conference, the organiser shall see that the interpreters receive a copy of it beforehand (see previous paragraph). The speaker shall be warned by the organiser that the reading speed for a text for which interpretation is to be provided must not exceed 100 words per minute (3 minutes per double-spaced typewritten page). The interpreter shall be under no obligation to provide interpretation of written statements if he or she has not received the text of the statement in sufficient time to study it. If films are shown during a meeting, no interpretation of the sound-track shall be provided unless the sound is transmitted directly to the interpreters’ headphones and unless the script has been supplied to the interpreters beforehand and the commentary is spoken at a normal speed.

  1. The remuneration and the allowances are determined by mutual agreement. The remuneration shall be paid unless otherwise provided by law, net of withholding tax.
  1. Travel conditions should be such that they do not impair either the interpreter’s health or the quality of her/his work following a journey.
  1. ISO standards 2603 and 4043 lay down the requirements for built-in and mobile booths and simultaneous interpreting equipment. If these standards are not complied with and the interpreter responsible for liaison with the organiser considers that the quality of the booths and technical equipment is not good enough to enable the team to do its work satisfactorily, or that they represent a danger to health, the team shall be under no obligation to provide simultaneous interpretation. The use of television screens, either in order to improve the direct view of the speaker and the hall, or even, in exceptional cases, as its replacement, is only acceptable with the advance consent of the interpreters involved.

For cases where remote interpretation is used (any form of teleconference or videoconference requiring the use of a video screen or monitor), it is absolutely necessary to respect the conditions stipulated in ISO 2603, with particular emphasis on article 7.1 regarding sound, and to ensure that the whole range of frequencies between 125 and 12,500 Hz is being provided in the case of an ISDN transmission.

  1. If for serious reasons the interpreter should ask to be released from the present engagement, he or she shall arrange to be replaced on the same conditions by a qualified colleague who has been approved by the organiser and, where an interpreter recruited the team, by the recruiting interpreter.
  1. It is expressly agreed that any disputes which may arise in connection with the present contract shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the place of the interpreter’s domicile. The law of that country shall be applicable.