On 2015-06-16 16:25, Gunnar Swanson wrote:
> A couple of explanations for folks not familiar with copyright issues
> and a quibble or two:
>
---
> The moral rights question matters in many jurisdictions but not in the
> US. (Some items that would traditionally be considered fine art are
> covered by VARA and some individual states have moral rights
> restrictions.) For those not familiar with the term, moral rights were
> invented by French Judges. They involve the assumed connection between
> a creator and the creation so cover things like the right of
> attribution, preservation, etc.
Dear Gunnar,
Thanks for the very informative post.
I gave up long ago trying to figure out all these (messy) issues, but
knowing the basics is always good.
AFAIK here in Portugal there is no "copyright law" as such (though
Portugal signed a couple of international treaties on copyright), but
instead a body of laws for "author's rights" and "connected rights".
Author's rights include those you mentioned as "moral rights".
Interesting aspects include the unalienable nature of authorship (you
can sell rights to, not authorship of) and the obligation of
preservation. I remember a curious episode: a restaurant owner
demolished a wall with a very ugly "art" tile work (commissioned by the
previous owner) and the author sued him. The "work of art" was total
crap and was owned by the restaurant, by the artist won the case because
you can't simply destroy a work of art (no matter how lousy it is).
Then there are "connected rights", like publishing rights (and these can
be limited in scope, time, etc: for instance, you can sell rights to
worldwide usage of an image for a year, or you can sell right to use an
image nationwide for ever, etc).
And regarding photos and film/video there might be "image rights". These
include the rights to one's own individual image (you can't simply
publish an image of a private individual without consent) and to the
image of one's personal stuff: you can't publish a picture of someone's
car, for instance, without the owner's consent. There is a special
provision regarding public figures: if you are a public figure, your
image is fair game for the purposes of information: this relates to the
"fair use" provision, which includes specifically educational use, right
to information, and satire.
It would be nice to see worldwide consensus on this subject, but if they
can't even come to terms with global warming...
--
Best regards,
==================================
Carlos Pires
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Design & New Media MFA // Communication Design PhD Student @ FBA-UL
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