Moral Rights in Cyberspace
By Catherine Sansum Kirkman
Web publishers are generally so enamored with the positive value of online technology that they do not focus long on the negative effects. It is worthwhile to stop a moment and look at why many artists and authors feel uncomfortable with how their work will be exploited in the digital age. Artists know that it is relatively easy to manipulate, morph, and modify their work in digital format, and they are concerned about distortions, mutilations, and other unintended uses, which can travesty the aesthetic integrity of their work or damage their reputation. Web publishers should be aware of the issue of "creative control" in the digital age.
An Australian government study concluded that:
The weak bargaining position of authors has been made even more difficult by the effects of technology. Whilst technological advances have increased the value of their copyright, because the potential and actual dissemination and uses of works provide greater opportunities for remuneration, the author's reputation and integrity rest with the entrepreneur.
Of course, artists and authors are protected from unauthorized changes to their work by the copyright law. The right to modify a work is controlled by the copyright owner. In addition to the copyright law, a legal doctrine called "moral rights" exists in many countries to protect the artist's personal, noneconomic rights to his work. Moral rights are supposed to be separate and distinct from the economic aspect of copyright ownership, and are supposed to survive any transfer or assignment of the copyright.
