When it comes to Copyright Law, there are three different types of moral rights a creator has;
-Right of Attribution
-Rights Against False Attribution
-Right of Integrity of Authorship
If someone breaches your moral rights over an artistic work, you can enforce protection of your rights against them.
Moral rights are personal rights contained in the Copyright Act 1968 that connect creators to their work. Moral rights can attach to artistic, literary, dramatic and musical works and films but not sound recordings. Moral rights apply even if the creator no longer owns the work or the copyright in the work.
Read on to see what the three moral rights are.
Arts Law also have an informative page on Moral Rights which you can access here for more information.
Right of Attribution
This provides that the creator of a work must be identified as such whenever a work is reproduced, published, performed or adapted (for literary, dramatic or musical works); reproduced, published, exhibited or communicated (for artistic works); or copied, exhibited or transmitted (for films).
See Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) s194
Rights Against False Attribution
This means that, in any reproduction or use of a work, there is a duty to the author of the work not to insert another person’ name in or on the work in such a way as to suggest falsely that the other person is the author.
See Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) ss 195AC – 195AH for an exhaustive list of types of acts that would constitute false attribution according to the category of work. The right against false attribution also exists for performers under sections 195AHA – 195AHC.
Right of Integrity of Authorship
This is a right to prevent derogatory treatment of a work that is detrimental to their honour or reputation. Derogatory treatment includes anything that results in material distortion, mutilation, or alteration of a work that is prejudicial to the author’s honour or reputation. See Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) ss 195AI – 195AL. Authors may consent to certain treatments of their work, and in some cases a defence may be raised that the act was reasonable in the circumstances [ss 195AR – 195AT and 195AXD – 195AXE].
