What's it Got to Do with Morality? Moral Rights: An Historic and Contemporary Perspective

Australia introduced moral rights legislation in December 2000, giving effect to a doctrine that originated in civil law jurisdictions in the eighteenth century. The rights given effect to in Australia are the right of integrity, which allows the author to prevent derogatory treatment of their work, and the right of attribution, which mandates attribution of the author when the work is reproduced, published or otherwise communicated to the public. There is also the right to prevent false attribution of authorship. This article looks at the historical development of moral rights and examines why such an amendment to the law in Australia was necessary in a contemporary context. It discusses the implications of this amendment for the media and other industries.