The name Wordfast is used for any number of

translation memory A translation memory (TM) is a database that stores "segments", which can be sentences, paragraphs or sentence-like units (headings, titles or elements in a list) that have previously been translated, in order to aid human translators. The trans ...

products developed by Wordfast LLC. The original Wordfast product, now called Wordfast Classic, was developed by Yves Champollion in 1999 as a cheaper alternative to Trados, a translation memory program. The current Wordfast products run on a variety of platforms but use largely compatible

formats, and often also have similar workflows. Wordfast LLC is based in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

, United States, although most of the development takes place in Paris, France. There is also a support center in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. The company has around 50 employees.

History

Development on Wordfast version 1 (then called simply Wordfast) was begun in 1999 in Paris, France, by Yves Champollion. It was made up of a set of macros that ran inside Microsoft Word, version 97 or higher. At that time, other translation memory programs also worked inside

Microsoft Word Microsoft Word is a word processor program, word processing program developed by Microsoft. It was first released on October 25, 1983, under the name Multi-Tool Word for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platf ...

, for example, Trados. Until late 2002, this

MS Word Microsoft Word is a word processor program, word processing program developed by Microsoft. It was first released on October 25, 1983, under the name Multi-Tool Word for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platf ...

-based tool (now known as Wordfast Classic) was

freeware Freeware is software, often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the free ...

. In 2006, the company Wordfast LLC was founded by Phil Shawe and Elizabeth Elting, also co-owners of the translation company

TransPerfect TransPerfect is an American translation and language services company. The company serves clients in many fields, such as film, gaming, law, and healthcare. , TransPerfect is "the largest privately owned language services provider, with office ...

.Division of Corporations – Online Services
. Delecorp.delaware.gov. In July 2006, Mr. Champollion sold all interest in the Wordfast Server computer program to Wordfast LLC. Since that time, Wordfast has been the sole owner of all rights, title, and interest, including the copyright, in the Wordfast Server Code. Since then, Champollion, while holding the title Founder and Chief Architect, has also been CEO and president of the company Wordfast LLC.

Supported translation memory and glossary formats

The original Wordfast translation memory format was a simple tab-delimited text file that can be opened and edited in a

text editor A text editor is a type of computer program that edits plain text. An example of such program is "notepad" software (e.g. Windows Notepad). Text editors are provided with operating systems and software development packages, and can be used to c ...

. Wordfast products can also import and export TMX files for memory exchange with other major commercial CAT tools. Wordfast's original

glossary A glossary (from , ''glossa''; language, speech, wording), also known as a vocabulary or clavis, is an alphabetical list of Term (language), terms in a particular domain of knowledge with the definitions for those terms. Traditionally, a gloss ...

format was a simple tab-delimited text file. These formats are still used today by Wordfast Anywhere, Wordfast Classic, Wordfast Server, and Wordfast Pro 3 (TM only, not the glossary). Wordfast Pro 5 uses a database format for the TM and glossary. The transition to a database format was made to increase the TM and glossary size limitations (e.g. from 1 million to 5 million translation units) as well as improve concordance search speeds.

Copyright matter

According to an October 2017 court filing in

New York State Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the superior court in the Judiciary of New York. It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil ju ...

, after the sale of Wordfast to Wordfast LLC, Wordfast allowed the Wordfast Server Code, together with the Wordfast trademark, to be used by

translation company, pursuant to a non-exclusive license. The lawsuit challenges a custodian appointed by a Delaware judge to sell

, accusing him of

Copyright Infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of Copyright#Scope, works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the c ...

, or pirating the code, to enhance the valuation of the firm.

References

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External links

Official Wordfast Site (High-bandwidth)
Translation software Computer-assisted translation software programmed in Java

History

Supported translation memory and glossary formats

Copyright matter

See also

References

External links