What are moral rights?

The relationship between an author and their creative work is safeguarded by moral rights.

These rights are personal, non-economic, and are protected by law. There are three fundamental moral rights contained in the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), the right of attribution, the right against false attribution, and the right of integrity.

They can be understood as:

• Attribution: that’s my work, I created it;

• False attribution: hey! That’s my work not yours; and

• Integrity: please don’t change or edit my work, you are ruining my reputation.

Who has moral rights?

Only individuals can have moral rights, not corporations. Authors of artistic, literary, dramatic, or musical works have moral rights attached to those works. This means that principal directors, producers, and screenwriters involved in cinematograph films hold moral rights. A group of people may be able to claim moral rights, as co-creators/collaborators of the same work. However, simply editing, or inputting ideas into the development of a work are not sufficient grounds to be considered an author of such work.

In Australia you do not have to assert your moral rights to enforce them, they are passive rights which arise automatically in works protected by copyright. However, asserting your moral rights might be required in other jurisdictions. If your work is to be sold or distributed internationally, you may want to include a clause in your contract to formally declare your moral rights.

Infringing moral rights

An author can claim infringement on their moral rights if there has been a failure to attribute authorship when the work has been reproduced or copied, communicated to the public, made available online, digitally transmitted, or exhibited in public. Further, authors have the right to prevent false claims of authorship to their work, and derogatory treatment of their work.

No moral right infringement will exist if the author has consented to their right to the action or omission that would otherwise infringe their moral rights. On the other hand, in absence of consent, an infringement on moral rights has occurred.

Waiving moral rights

Moral rights cannot be sold, transferred, or licensed to another person or company, this is because they are personal and survive transfer of copyright. An author may consent to acts or omissions in relation to their work that would otherwise constitute an infringement of their moral rights. To be effective, consent must be given by the author or the author’s representative, be in writing, and not be induced by false or misleading statements or obtained by duress.

It is common practice in entertainment law for an author to consent to certain acts or omissions which might otherwise be considered an infringement of their moral rights. Terms and clauses which set out the scope of consent are generally outlined in contracts.