moral rights

Specific rights that the author of an original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, and the director of a film enjoys in the creation of the work. Only the author of the work may personally exercise these rights during their lifetime, since they are not assignable. Moreover, certain of these rights subsist in favour of the author, whether or not he is the owner of the copyright. These rights are distinct from the economic rights of authors and guarantee the personal connection between the author and his work. Generally moral rights continue to subsist until the copyright in the work has expired.

Moral rights include the following:

• the right to be identified as author or director of a work.
• the right to object to derogatory treatment of a work.
• the right to object to false attribution of authorship or directorship.
• the right to privacy of certain photographs and films.

Usage: An author exerted his right to be named as author of a book.

Related Words: copyright; works; author; literary work; artistic work; musical work; dramatic work.