Economic rights

Copyright is known as an economic right because it gives authors the opportunity to derive an income from their creative effort. Once an original work is recorded in some way (such as on paper or on a digital file) the author automatically has a bundle of exclusive economic rights in relation to that work. Each of these rights exist independently from one another and may be separately dealt with. To the owner, copyright is a set of exclusive rights, but from a content user’s perspective it is a set of “restricted acts”.

Restricted acts applying to each type of work

Copying, publishing and communication to the public are restricted acts for all types of copyright work. Other restrictions, such as performing, playing, showing, adapting and renting - apply to specific categories of work. A summary of the restricted acts applying to each category of work is detailed below. The meaning of “copying” is discussed elsewhere in the knowledge base.

Literary works copyright rights/restricted acts:

• copy
• issue copies to the public (first publication)
• rent copies to the public (computer programs only and subject to conditions)
• communicate to the public
• perform in public
• adapt (including translation from one language to another or making a dramatised version), or do any of the above in relation to an adaptation

Dramatic works copyright rights/restricted acts:

• copy
• issue copies to the public (first publication)
• communicate to the public
• perform in public
• adapt (including translation from one language to another or converting to a literary work), or do any of the above in relation to an adaptation

Musical works copyright rights/restricted acts:

• copy
• issue copies to the public (first publication)
• communicate to the public
• perform in public
• adapt (making an arrangement or transcription), or do any of the above in relation to an adaptation

Artistic works copyright rights/restricted acts:

• copy
• issue copies to the public (first publication)
• communicate to the public

Typographical arrangements copyright rights/restricted acts:

• copy

Sound recordings and film works copyright rights/restricted acts:

• copy
• issue copies to the public (first publication)
• rent copies to the public
• play or show in public
• communicate to the public

Communication works copyright rights/restricted acts:

• copy
• issue copies to the public (first publication)
• play or show in public
• communicate to the public

Moral rights

There are certain rights which attach to authors and are separate from the economic rights. Under the Copyright Act, moral rights belong to authors of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, as well as to directors of films (even though copyright in films is usually owned by film producers). The moral rights can be summarised as the right:

• to be identified as the author of their work (the right of attribution);
• to object to derogatory treatment of their work (the right of integrity); and
• to not have a work falsely attributed to them (the right against false attribution).

Moral rights are personal rights and remain with the author even if they have transferred copyright to another person or if copyright is initially owned by someone else. Moral rights last as long as copyright lasts.

Right of attribution

To be enforceable, the right to be identified must be “asserted” in writing. An author who has asserted this right must be identified reasonably prominently in relation to all copies of the work.

Right of integrity

In practice, the author’s right of integrity means that others have an obligation to not alter an author’s work without the author’s written permission. Alterations to an author’s work may be considered prejudicial to their honour or reputation so anyone who publishes someone else’s protected work needs to get consent to make alterations before publication to avoid infringing moral rights.

Right against false attribution

Representing a work as an author’s work when it has in fact been altered by someone else, may infringe the moral right relating to false attribution.

Academic practice and agreements reinforce moral rights

It is standard practice in an academic context to accurately attribute writers, illustrators, photographers, filmmakers and others wherever reasonably possible. This will be the case even if the right of attribution is not formally asserted by an author. Most agreements which grant tertiary education providers permission to use copyright material in certain ways require the copyright user to accurately attribute the source of material they use and to copy exactly. For example, the terms of the CLNZ licence require all copying to be exact, as well as true to the typographical format of the work copied.

Right to privacy

The Copyright Act sets out a right to privacy in relation to photographs or films commissioned for private or domestic purposes. The person who commissions these works has the right not to have copies issued to the public, exhibited or shown in public or communicated to the public. This contemplates situations where the commissioner of these works does not own copyright in them. The right to privacy applies to works made after the commencement of the Copyright Act and lasts for the same duration as copyright.

Performers’ rights

Under the Copyright Act, performers have certain rights in their performances of a dramatic, musical or literary work. Performers have the exclusive right to give consent for the recording of their performance (or a substantial part of it), other than for private or domestic use, or for a live transmission of a performance. Performers' rights expire 50 years from the end of the year when the work was first performed.