Legal Definitions - Moral Rights

The concept of “moral rights” refers to certain rights of authors, granted under copyright law. These rights are recognized most prevalently in civil law countries. The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, an international agreement governing copyright law, defines moral rights as the rights “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.”

For example, if an artist creates a painting and someone else alters it in a way that damages the artist's reputation, the artist has the right to object to that alteration.

In the United States, the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 (VARA) grants moral rights in relation to works of visual art. Several states have also passed moral rights laws, such as the California Art Preservation Act. However, where there are conflicts between such laws and VARA, the state laws may be preempted.

It is important to note that in continental Europe, moral rights are “inalienable and cannot be transferred or waived.” However, in the U.S., the moral rights applicable to works of visual art “may not be transferred, but those rights may be waived if the author expressly agrees to such waiver in a written instrument signed by the author.”