copyright derivative-work
Is spoken R2D2 language illegal?
<p>With the help of <a href="http://www.r2d2translator.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.r2d2translator.com/</a>, I try to communicate with users of my android app. </p>

<p>For example "warning", results in lots of bleeps that hopefully could be picked up by remote planets.</p>

<p>Are my actions illegal by any terrestrial laws?</p>

<p>A language, even a conlang, is not protected by copyright. A specific recording or text could be subject to copyright protection, but that site isn't obviously doing that. An analogous case arose in Paramount, CBS v. Axanar, where Paramount attempted to claim copyright ownership of the Klingon language (Paramount apparently saw the wisdom of the counterargument, which is why I use the past tense). A legal brief is <a href="https://popehat.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/035-1-Brief-of-Amicus-Curiae.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>, explaining why that premise is "meq Hutlh".</p>

<p>In the case of Droidspeak, it is unclear what the basis of the "translator" is. Klingon stems from published grammar and dictionary (plus typeface) created as a work for hire, so there are limits to how much of the grammar and dictionary you can copy. We might assume that Droidspeak was similarly specified, and that this website implements the specification: anyone can then generate Droidspeak utterances, if they have the technical know-how. In that case, there is no copyright protection. Or we might assume that the sound derives from actual copying from the movies – that would be copyright infringement. (That is, original sounds are edited out as "letters" and automatically recombined by the program). A third possibility is that the squawks just resemble the movie squawks (and would not be infringing). So the answer depends on what the translator actually does.</p>

<p>From the perspective of the person using the translator, the main concern would be whether a particular use is consistent with the terms of service. In this case, there are no terms, so you may do whatever you want with their tool (as long as you can legally do the thing without the website). You could translate, record and post a Droidspeak version of the Gettysburg Address (but not <em>Old Man's War</em>). They might later add a TOS that prohibits that. Your innocent use of the site would not open you to vicarious liability.</p>
