Moral Rights
The Act recognises directly or indirectly the following moral rights for all authors including directors of films:
Paternity: right to be identified as author – this must be asserted by authors
All book authors assert this right by inserting the following wording in a book: ‘A.N. Author asserts his/her moral right to be identified as the author of this book’.
Integrity: right to object to derogatory treatment of the work
The author of a copyright, literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, and the director or a copyright film has the right not to have his/her work subjected to derogatory treatment. This right does not apply to a computer program, or to any computer-generated work – and as with paternity there are special provisions regarding reporting of current events, publication in newspapers. etc.
False attribution of work (passing off and defamation)
A person has the right not to have a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work falsely attributed to them as author, and not to have a film falsely attributed to him as director. For example, there may be an attempt by a defendant to make use of the plaintiff’s reputation to assist the defendant to market his/her own work. In Samuelson v Producers’ Distributing Co (1932) 1 Ch.201; (1931) AllE.R. Rep.74, CA, a playwright was able to prevent the maker of a film from advertising the film as having been based on the playwright’s original theatre sketch.
Rights to privacy of certain photographs and films
A person who for private and domestic purposes commissions the taking of a photograph or the making of a film has, where copyright subsists in the work, the right not to have copies of the work issued or exhibited to the public, broadcast. etc. For example, where a photographer is commissioned to take photographs of a wedding, those photographs cannot be issued or shown to the public without the consent of the commissioner (e.g. the bride).
Exceptions
Moral rights do not apply:
-
where author is an employee or an employed director and the work is produced in the course of employment.
-
where a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work is made for the purpose of publication in a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical, enclyclopedia, dictionary or other collective work, or is made available with the consent of the author;
-
where the work is made for the purpose of reporting current events;
-
where the work is a computer programme, a computer-generated work or the design of a typeface.
Attribution of authorship is not required in relation to a group of acts which themselves do not infringe copyright by virtue of exceptions in the CDPA 1988. For example:
-
fair dealing for the reporting of current events by sound recording, film or broadcast where this would be impossible on the grounds of practicality or otherwise;
-
incidental inclusion of a work in an artistic work, broadcast;
-
examination questions where this would be impossible on the grounds of practicality or otherwise.