Re: Eternal moral rights

On 17 June 1998, C.F. Ludena <ludena[_at_]aol.com> wrote:
>
> On 98-06-16, Amalyah Keshet <akeshet[_at_]netvision.net.il> wrote:
> >
> > On Sat, 13 Jun 1998, C.F. Ludena <ludena[_at_]aol.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > the laws of France and Germany (which recognize eternal moral
> > > rights)...
> >
> > This is something I've long wanted to clarify. Under French and German
> > law moral rights never expire?
>
> Under the French copyright act, the moral right that protects authors'
> name, quality and integrity of their works is eternal, and therefore,
> may be exercised after the expiration of economic rights (life+70)
>
> <http://www.celog.fr/cpi/lv1_tt2.htm>

French copyright law provides with four moral rights: right to integrity (droit au respect de l'oeuvre), the right to paternity (droit au nom), right to divulge the work (droit de divulgation) and the right to "take the work back" (dorit de reprentir ou de retrait).

The right to take the work back is not eternal. This right in fact allows the author to claim his/her work back in order to transform it or to add some elements. Thge author has to pay damages to the owner of the work (the physical embodiement).

> [CHAPITRE Ier - Droits moraux
>
> Art. L. 121-1. L'auteur jouit du droit au respect de son nom, de sa
> qualiti et de son oeuvre. Ce droit est attachi ` sa personne.
> Il est *perpituel**, inaliinable et imprescriptible...
>
> Art. L. 121-2. L'auteur a seul le droit de divulguer son oeuvre. Sous
> riserve des dispositions de l'article L. 132-24, il ditermine le procidi
> de divulgation et fixe les conditions de celle-ci. Aprhs sa mort, le
> droit de divulgation de ses oeuvres posthumes est exerci leur vie
> durant par le ou les exicuteurs testamentaires disignis par l'auteur. A
> leur difaut, ou aprhs leur dichs, et sauf volonti contraire de l'auteur,
> ce droit est exerci dans l'ordre suivant : par les descendants, par le
> conjoint contre lequel n'existe pas un jugement passi en force de chose
> jugie de siparation de corps ou qui n'a pas contracti un nouveau mariage,
> par les hiritiers autres que les descendants qui recueillent tout ou
> partie de la succession et par les ligataires universels ou donataires
> de l'universaliti des biens ` venir. *Ce droit peut s'exercer mjme aprhs
> l'expiration du droit exclusif d'exploitation ditermini ` l'article L.
> 123-1*]
>
> > Are they "inherited" by the creator's heirs (can they be, if they are
> > rights of personality and not property?), or "administered" by the
> > heirs?
>
> They are considered personality rights and therefore personal to
> authors. But their exercise may vest on the author's heirs or even
> 3rd parties.

It is noteworthy that the nature of the author's moral right evolves. Whilst it is a *discretionnory* (right when it is the author him/herself argue his/her moral rights, it becomes a *functionnary* subject to the judge control) right when it is the heirs who exercise it. Author's moral right protects the author's personnality which is embued in the work. The author is the only person to know when his/her personnality is affected. On the other hand, when it is the heirs who exercise moral rights they have a mission : they have to respect as much as they can the author's will. When moral rights is exercied by the heirs it is subject to abuse. The "Fujita" case, shows how a spouse abused her right to divulge an unpublished work. Madame Fujita was opposed to the publication of one of her husband's work, although this latter wanted his work to be disseminated. The court held that Mme Fujita abused her right. Rennes 19 novembre 1990, D. 1991. IR, 18.

see article L. 121-3 below.

> > If eternal, are they administered by the heirs of the heirs, and
> > so forth?
>
> Art 121.2 above, provides an order for the exercise of the right to
> protect the divulgation of the work: first, the issue, if not the spouse,
> if not the heirs, if not successors in interest.
>
> If their absence, it's the Government (usually through the Department of
> Culture) who may enforce moral rights in case of "notable abuse".
> See 121-3 below:
>
> [Art. L. 121-3. En cas d'abus notoire dans l'usage ou le non-usage du
> droit de divulgation de la part des reprisentants de l'auteur dicidi
> visis ` l'article L. 121-2, le tribunal de grande instance peut
> ordonner toute mesure appropriie. Il en est de mjme s'il y a conflit
> entre lesdits reprisentants, s'il n'y a pas d'ayant droit connu ou en
> cas de vacance ou de dishirence. Le tribunal peut jtre saisi notamment
> par le ministre chargi de la culture.]
>
> > What is the situation under US law (where moral rights apply)? UK law?
> > Is there a term of protection? Any connection at all to the life + 50
> > (70...?) formula?
>
> See Holderness Mike, "Moral Rights and Author' Rights: The Keys to the
> Information Age", Refereed Article 1998 (1) The Journal of Information,
> Law and Technology JILT). <http://elj.warwick.ac.uk/jilt/infosoc/98_1hold/>
> It's an excellent article on the importance of moral rights in the new
> information age. It begins by explaining where moral rights come from
> and describes the situation in mainstream Europe as opposed to that in
> the UK, US..
>
> In common law right jurisdictions (US, UK, Australia, etc) moral rights
> are very limited, if any.

It is important to make a clear cut between UK and US law. Moral Right exists as such in UK (Chapter 4 of CDPA 1988). Moral rights applies to all works whilst in the US it only exists for the visual arts works. see Ginsburg article, Moral rights in the common law countries.

> But other bodies of the law may offer some protection to author's
> reputation, attribution of their works, etc. (eg, in the US the Lanham
> Act/Visual Artists' Right Act). This protection is much narrower and
> light compared to the moral rights recognized in civil law
> jurisdictions, where moral rights are inalienable, unwaivable and last
> at least 50/70 years (the duration granted to economic rights), if not
> forever.
>
> art 6 bis of the Berne Convention provides a minimum term of protection for
> moral rights:
>
> "1. Independently of the author's economic rights, and even after the
> transfer of the said rights, the author shall have the right to claim
> authorship of the work and to object to any distortion, mutilation or
> other modification of, or other derogatory action in relation to, the
> said work, which would be prejudicial to his honor or reputation.
>
> 2. The rights granted to the author in accordance with the preceding
> paragraph shall, after his death, be maintained, at least until the
> expiry of the economic rights, and shall be exercisable by the persons
> or institutions authorized by the legislation of the country where
> protection is claimed. However, those countries whose legislation, at
> the moment of their ratification of or accession to this Act, does not
> provide for the protection after the death of the author of all the
> rights set out in the preceding paragraph may provide that some of these
> rights may, after his death, cease to be maintained.
>
> 3. The means of redress for safeguarding the rights granted by this
> Article shall be governed by the legislation of the country where
> protection is claimed."
>
>
> In summary, there's a split between *auhtor's rights* countries and
> *copyright* countries. Copyright countries give authors exlusive
> exploitation rights (eg, reproduction, communication to the public,
> etc), which are property rights and as such alienable. Author's right
> countries give their authors the same exclusive property rights, plus
> moral rights that are personal rights, inalienable and may last more
> than the duration of economic rights.

I do not totally agree. It is true that there is a clear cut between copyright countries and author's right countries but there are also differences among both categories. (See above about UK and US moral rights). In addition to that french copyright law is not the identical to german copyright system. French copyright system is dualist whilst german system is monist (Ulmer's image of the tree from which departs all the branches of the copyright law moral right plus exploitation rights).

Furthermore, more and more french copyright evolves towards copyright law system. For example computer programs entered the realm of copyright in 1985. There are very specific rules. The computer's program creator has no moral rights except a right to paternity.

Alan Ragueneau
aragueneau[_at_]oceanet.com Received on Fri Jun 19 1998 - 21:01:55 GMT