6. Moral rights

Abstract

This chapter assesses moral rights. From a human rights perspective, the distinction between economic and moral rights can be traced back to Art. 27(2) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The protection of the moral interests of the authors finds justification not only in the context of human rights but also under a special set of copyright rules that offer protection to non-pecuniary interests of the authors. The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CPDA) recognises four main moral rights: the right to be identified as the author or director of a work (this is the so-called paternity right); the right to object to derogatory treatment of a work (the so-called integrity right); the right to object to a false attribution of authorship in the case of a literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic work or a film; and the right of privacy in commissioned photographs and films.