Moral Rights in Information Technology: A New Kind of 'Personal Right'?

Abstract

Should the moral rights of authors be protected in works of new technology that are characteristic of the ‘Digital Age’? This question has not been widely considered in international copyright developments. The major processes of internationalization in copyright law, including the Berne Convention, TRIPs Agreement, EU harmonization directives, and WIPO Internet Treaties, all side-step the issue of moral rights in technological works. Instead, there appears to be a tacit consensus in the international community that moral rights are somehow inappropriate to technological creation — but this question has yet to be subjected to rigorous policy analysis. This paper examines the relevance of moral rights to two areas of new technology. First, it considers the applicability of moral rights to computer programs; secondly, it explores moral rights in new kinds of artistic works that make use of technological elements in their creation, performance, or exhibition. It suggests that some form of moral rights protection may well be appropriate to technological works. However, the moral right of the ‘Digital Age’ should not only reflect the special characteristics of technological creation; it should also accommodate the remarkable diversity of human creativity in the environment of new technology.