Moral rights, although provided for by the international Berne Convention on Copyright in 1886, were not formalized as such under English law until the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.
There are four such rights:
These new rights do not detract from any previous rights to claim eg for Passing-off or for Defamation.
These rights arise in some (but not all) works in which copyright may subsist
Moral rights are personal. Because they are personal, they cannot be assigned, and even if the entire copyright in a work is assigned, the moral rights will remain with the person originally entitled to them. Moral rights however may be waived; acts which would otherwise be a breach may be consented to; and they may be passed on by will.
Breach of Moral rights entitles the person whose rights are infringed to sue for damages, and for an injunction (ie to prevent continuation or repetition).
This is the right of the author of a copyright work (literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic) or of the director of a film to be identified as the author or director of the work.
The right of Paternity must be 'asserted' before it will be effective. It may not be sufficient for the author to simply show his name on the work. There should be some statement such as:
'[Name] asserts the right to be identified as the author of this work pursuant to the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988'
Exceptions include the following:
Where rights of Paternity exist, they will come into being at the same time as the work itself, and the first owner will be generally be the person who created the work.
The right of Paternity lasts as long as the copyright in the work.
The right of Integrity is the right of an author or film director to object to certain types of treatment to their works.
Such treatments include any addition to, deletion from or alteration to, or adaptation of the work. Translations into other languages, or changing the key of a musical work, are excluded.
Such treatments can be objected to if they are 'derogatory' - that is, if they amount to 'distortion or mutilation of the work' or are 'otherwise prejudicial to the honour or reputation of the author or director'. Neither destruction, restoration, nor repair can be objected to.
Exceptions include the following:
Where rights of Integrity exist, they will come into being at the same time as the work itself, and the first owner will be generally be the person who created the work.
The right of Integrity lasts as long as the copyright in the work.
This is the right not to wrongly be identified as the author of a work.
Anyone can object to a work being falsely attributed to him or her.
The right to object to false attribution lasts until 20 years after a person's death.
A person who has a photograph taken or a film made for private and domestic purposes has the right not to have the photograph or film shown in public.
The right to Privacy in relation to such films and photographs belongs to the person who commissions the photographs or film for private and domestic purposes.
The right of Privacy lasts as long as the copyright in the films or photographs.
I'd really appreciate your feedback on this FAQ - so mail me and tell me what you think of it, if it's been useful to you, or let me know of any specific problem you have where I may be able to help.
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This page was last updated 31 January, 1996.
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© Roger Sinclair roger@egos.co.uk 1996 - All rights reserved - see full copyright details
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