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cc-licenses - Re: CC licenses and "moral rights"

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Subject: Development of Creative Commons licenses

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  • From: Henri Sivonen <hsivonen AT iki.fi>
  • To: Discussion on the Creative Commons license drafts <cc-licenses AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: CC licenses and "moral rights"
  • Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 12:09:59 +0200

On Mar 25, 2005, at 23:45, drew Roberts wrote:

Interesting, but if this is about respecting the person of the artist as has
been being discussed... You can't trash me while I am alive, but you can drag
me through the mud when I am gone and my family can't object, even if that
tends to reduce their standing in society?

I took it to family as I felt that might be a stronger case than the business
successors that you quoted.

My understanding (IANAL) is that the family heirs of a dead person can enforce the moral rights of the dead person. A business successor cannot, because businesses cannot hold moral rights.

Also interesting that the moral rights were held not to be transferrable while
I assume the copyrights were. Especially since it has been pointed out that
copyrights flow from and rest on moral rights. (My wording from what I think
I was told.)

The point is that you cannot transfer moral rights, because they protect the reputation and integrity of the author who is the person who created the work and no one else. The character of the author is not merchandise like the financial interest in the work.

In Finland, instead of complex contract law there is a freedom of contract. In principle, two people or other legal entities can agree on anything. However, it is recognized that the legal ideal of a balanced negotiation cannot take place in all situations--in particular in situations where one party is a business and the other is a private person (an employee or a consumer). That's why there are specific limitations that make certain components of agreements void.

The expectation is that an author makes a contract with a publisher or an employer--that is, a company that wields financial power over the author. Moral rights protect the author from an evil publisher. The author is not allowed to transfer or dispose of the moral rights, so (s)he cannot be coerced into doing so.

--
Henri Sivonen
hsivonen AT iki.fi
http://hsivonen.iki.fi/





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