Moral Rights in Media & Entertainment Law
Unlike economic rights which are about wealth, earning, selling, licensing, or assigning creative products, moral rights under Section 57 of the Copyright Act, 1957 are about identity, dignity, and reputation. They recognize that a piece of art, a song, a photograph, a novel written story is not just property; it is a living testament to the creator’s personality and labour. They survive even when the creator has transferred the financial rights, as the author cannot be divested of these special rights simply by assigning the copyright.
The Two Pillars of Moral Rights
In Indian Law there are two essential moral rights:
1. Right of Paternity (Right to Attribution)
This right is the creator’s claim to identity in their work. It ensures that the creator’s name accompanies the work, and that no one else may dishonestly cast false claims upon it. It protects against another’s attempt to claim authorship or to hide the true creator’s identity. This means the original novelist, lyricist, graphic artist, or screenplay writer retains the right to be acknowledged, even when producers, publishers, or distributors handle the work.
2. Right of Integrity
Right to Integrity empowers creators to object to changes that would warp, distort, mutilate, or otherwise alter their work in a way that diminishes its honour or harms their reputation. The law permits the author to restrain such treatment or even to seek damages where the integrity of the creation is compromised. Note that not every alteration qualifies. Only those changes that would prejudice the creator’s honour or reputation are protected under moral rights.
How Moral Rights Work in the Media & Entertainment World
In media and entertainment, works are often adapted, broadcast, remixed, and shared across platforms. While economic rights govern how and where this happens, moral rights protect how these creative gestures reflect back on their originators.
For example:
A film adaptation of a novel may be legally permitted under a contract, but if it presents the author’s work in a distorted or derogatory manner that harms the author’s reputation, the author may still resist such treatment under moral rights.
An artist commissioned for public art may see their work removed or ill-treated; Indian courts have held that such treatment can violate moral rights if it unjustly damages the work’s integrity or the artist’s honour.
Even where economic rights are assigned to producers, publishers, or studios, the original author’s moral rights remain with the creator unless explicitly and voluntarily waived.
Moral Rights in Court:
Amar Nath Sehgal v. Union of India
One of the most poetic affirmations of moral rights in Indian jurisprudence came in the case involving a mural created for Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. When the mural was removed and ill-treated, the court held that moral rights protect not just against distortion but even against destruction of the work where such treatment prejudices the artist’s honour and the preservation of cultural heritage. The sculptor was awarded damages and the work returned.
Limits and Practical Notes
Moral rights do not necessarily give the author the right to prevent all uses of their work; they protect against prejudice to honour and reputation.
Merely failing to display a work, or displaying it in a way that doesn’t meet the author’s personal aesthetic standards, does not automatically infringe moral rights.
Some legal voices and courts have grappled with whether moral rights can be waived voluntarily; the law itself does not explicitly prohibit waiver, but courts scrutinize this closely.
Why Moral Rights Matter Behind every work of art there is a human being whose name, honour, and creative essence are recognised and cherished.They remind us that creativity is not only an economic commodity but a gentle expression of identity, a testament to spirit, and a legacy inherited by culture itself.