Translation Of The Passive Voice In The Legal Text From The Perspective Of Interpersonal Function

With the deepening of international exchanges and the rapid development of the economy,the number of all kinds of litigation cases is on the rise.Among the increasingly widespread use of emerging technologies and various means of reproduction and transmission,the number of cases concerning copyright protection and infringement also keeps growing.In order not to damage the author’s copyright,it is necessary to enable the public to get reasonable access to others’ works and applications.Otherwise,copyright infringement and copyright misuse remain a big problem.As a student majoring in legal translation,I have been keeping an eye on the increasingly serious situation of copyright infringement and copyright misuse in my researches and practical experience in recent years.In my understanding,with the increasing number of copyright infringement cases,there is also a growing gap in the demand for legal translation services.Therefore,the translation of judgment on copyright infringement is of certain practical significance to promote the settlement of such cases and the communication at home and abroad.The author chose the judgment Craft Smith LLC v.EC Design LLC as this translation practice.This judgment may contribute to the decision of similar cases in China as a reference for it concerning copyright infringement which is frequently mentioned in recent years.The author hopes to combine the theories and practices of legal translation,and tries to analyze the interpersonal function of the passive voice and its translation of the legal text.According to the translation of the passive voice in this judgment,the author summarized the following translating methods when translating passive voice in legal text:(1)Translating into Chinese passive voice when the recipient and the topic are emphasized to be given more focus;(2)Translated into Chinese active voice when equivalence in meaning and form cannot be taken into account at the same time;(3)Translating into a non-subject sentence when there is no actor in the source text,and it is impossible or unnecessary to point it out in the target text;(4)Translating intodeterminative-sentence when such sentences in the source text are used to describe the nature of things or the legal facts.The author hopes that this translation practice will offer some insights to the translation of the judgment concerning the topic of copyright infringement and further studies on translation of passive voice in the legal text.