Moral+Rights

**Moral Rights (copyright laws)**
[]

toc Moral rights are [|rights] of creators of [|copyrighted] works generally recognized in [|civil law] jurisdictions and, to a lesser extent, in some [|common law] jurisdictions. They include the right of [|attribution], the right to have a work published [|anonymously] or [|pseudonymously] , and the right to the integrity of the work. The preserving of the integrity of the work bars the work from alteration, distortion, or mutilation. Anything else that may detract from the artist's relationship with the work even after it leaves the artist's possession or ownership may bring these moral rights into play. Moral rights are distinct from any economic rights tied to copyrights. Even if an artist has assigned his or her copyright rights to a work to a third party, he or she still maintains the moral rights to the work. Moral rights were first recognized in [|France] and [|Germany], before they were included in the [|Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works] in 1928. [|Canada] recognizes moral rights in its Copyright Act, although the French translation of the phrase used in the legislation is "droits moraux", not "droit d'auteur" (the latter refers to copyright as a whole). While the [|United States] became a signatory to the convention in 1988, it still does not completely recognize moral rights as part of [|copyright law], but rather as part of other bodies of law, such as defamation or unfair competition. Some jurisdictions allow for the [|waiver] of moral rights. In the United States, the [|Visual Artists Rights Act] of 1990 (VARA) recognizes moral rights, but applies only to works of [|visual art].

==**Moral Rights in Canada** ==

Section 14.1 of Canada's Copyright Act protects the moral rights of authors. The moral rights cannot be assigned, but can be waived contractually. Many publishing contracts in Canada now contain a standard moral right waiver.

Moral rights in Canada were famously exercised in the case of [|Snow v. The Eaton Centre Ltd.]

In this case [|Toronto Eaton Centre] , a large shopping mall, had commissioned the artist Michael Snow for a sculpture of Canada Geese. Snow successfully stopped Eaton's from decorating the geese with bows at Christmas.

 References


 * 1) **[|^]**s. 195AM(1) provides: "An author's right of integrity of authorship in respect of a cinematograph film continues in force until the author dies."
 * 2) **[|^]**[|Please visit Hongkong legislation website for specified ordinance sections]
 * 3) **[|^]** Monty Python, v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., 538 F.2d 14 (2d Cir 1976) [|[1]]

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