Moral rights are a special set of rights which belong exclusively to authors of literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works and to the directors of a film.They are designed to protect the artistic sensibilities of such authors. They do not apply to works created during the course of employment. Moral rights cannot be transferred but they can be waived and authors are usually requested to do so.
Moral rights give the author and director:
- The right to be identified as the author (as long as the author or director asserts their rights);
- The right to prevent or object to the derogatory treatment of their work.
There are also moral rights for all individuals, not just authors or directors, which are:
- The right not to have literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works falsely attributed to them; or
- The right of privacy in photographs which they commission for private or domestic purposes e.g. wedding photographs.
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Image: Felix Xifel: www.felixxifel.com
