-- JonathanMo - 14 Sep 2015

Moral rights

Moral rights are rights which an author or artist retains even after the right to exploit the copyright in the work has been transferred. They are personal rights which cannot be sold. They give the author or artist the right to be credited as the creator of a work, and to restrain derogatory treatment of it which might affect their honour or reputation.

Traditionally, copyright laws in Australia were only concerned with economic rights. They did not prevent work being distorted, mutilated, or used in an insulting, prejudicial or offensive way. Nor did they protect a person's right to be recognised as the creator of the work. In 2000 the Federal Government passed the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000, as an amending Act to the CA.

The CA specifically provides for three moral rights:

• right of attribution - an author's right to be identified as the author of a work [CA ss.193-195AB]
• the right to take action against false attribution [CA ss.195AC-AH]
• right of integrity - the right to object to derogatory treatment of a work which prejudicially affects the author's honour or reputation [CA ss.195AI-AW].

Note in particular section 193 of the CA - 'the moral rights of an author of a work are in addition to any other rights in relation to the work ...', and also section 195AN(3) of the CA - 'a moral right in respect of a work is not transmissible by assignment, by will, or by devolution by operation of law'.

With the exception of the right of integrity in film, moral rights normally last as long as the author's economic rights. Authors can consent in some circumstances to an act or omission which constitutes a breach of moral rights [CA ss.195AW, AWA and AWB]. There is no scope for an enforceable generalised waiver outside the scope of these provisions.

Only individuals can possess moral rights. Thus, for example, where a body corporate was the producer of a film, only the director or screenwriter could exercise moral rights. It also means that an Aboriginal clan that traditionally owned a design or painting could not exercise moral rights if that painting was shown in a derogatory manner, without designating or deferring that right to an individual member.