Creative Commons, Unwaivable Moral Rights and the Need for New International Substantive Minima

Abstract

Creative Commons licenses were originally created for a Common Law copyright framework. When these licenses are used internationally, they encounter problems with the unwaivable moral rights established in the Civil Law's droit d'auteur copyright systems, such as the right to integrity and the right of withdrawal. These problems evidence the need for fully waivable moral rights for authors in the digital age. This article rejects the usual arguments for unwaivable moral rights in Civil Law systems and argues that waivable moral rights are beneficial for authors in the digital age. In order to achieve global harmonization in Copyright Law, the international copyright system should establish the right to waive all rights over works as part of new international substantive minima in copyright treaties.