Economic Right

1. REPRODUCTION RIGHT:

The following definition of “reproduction” comes from a leading U.K. case

Broadly, reproduction means copying, and does not include cases where an author or compiler produces
a substantially similar result by independent work without copying

+ Uploading or downloading from the Internet may “reproduce” the work, even if the reproduction is of
lesser quality

+ A temporary copy may still be a reproduction

+ Reproduction includes the making of any kind of copy, even in adifferent size

+ Reproduction includes the making of copy in a different form, even if the copy is not easily perceptible

(84-88 - PRINCIPLES OF COPYRIGHT Cases and Materials - PROFESSOR DAVID VAVER)

2. TRANSLATIONS

The usual meaning of translation is the conversion of one language or dialect into another

+ The copyright owner has the exclusive right to translate the work

+ Conversion between a computer program’s source and object codes may sometimes be considered a
translation, especially if so prescribed by legislation.

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (U.K.), in section 21, provides that a translation of a literary
or dramatic work constitutes an “adaptation” and that:

21(4) In relation to a computer program a “translation includes a version of the program in which it is
converted into or out of a computer language or code or into a different computer language or code.

Without such a provision, courts may conclude that such changes fall within the reproduction, rather
than the translation.

(88-90 - PRINCIPLES OF COPYRIGHT Cases and Materials - PROFESSOR DAVID VAVER)

3. THE ADAPTATION RIGHT

A work based upon one or more pre-existing works such as a translation, musical arrangement,
dramatization, fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, art reproduction, abridgment,
condensation or any other form in which a work may be recast, transformed, or adapted. A work
consisting of editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications which, as a whole,
represent an original work of authorship is a “derivative work.” [Copyright Act 1976, §101]

“adaptation” –
(a)

in relation to a literary or dramatic work, other than a computer program…, means –

(i) a translation of the work;

(ii) a version of a dramatic work in which it is converted into a non-dramatic work or, as the case may be,
of a non-dramatic work in which it is converted into a dramatic work;

(iii) a version of the work in which the story or action is conveyed wholly or mainly be means of pictures
in a form suitable for reproduction in a book, or in a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical;

(ab)

in relation to a computer program, means an arrangement or transcription of the work;

(ac) ….

(b) in relation to a musical work, means an arrangement or transcription of the work.

+ A version that is abridged or supplemented may still fall within the adaptation right

+ The adaptation right may not extend to mere ideas taken from the source work

+ The adaptation right applies only where the source work is changed in some manner.

(91-93 - PRINCIPLES OF COPYRIGHT Cases and Materials - PROFESSOR DAVID VAVER)

4. PUBLIC PERFORMANCE RIGHT

A performance may occur live or through mechanical means, e.g., by radio, record player or television.
The following definition in section 2 of the Canadian Copyright Act is typical of the broad meaning of
“performance” in international copyright law: “performance” means any acoustic or visual
representation of a work … including a representation made by means of any mechanical instrument,
radio receiving set or television receiving set. Thus, in copyright law, the person who turns on the radio
or television set to hear a Chopin étude played on the piano “performs” that piece in law, as much as if
he had himself sat down and played the piece live on his own piano

+ A private performance does not infringe copyright

+ A public performance may occur in a private club, even if the audience pays no admission charge.

+ The public performance right may be infringed even if the unauthorized performance benefits the
author

+ The public performance right is distinct from the reproduction right or any other right. A person who is
entitled to perform a work in public is not automatically entitled to record the performance
+ A public performance may occur even if the public is present in different places at the same time
+ A performance to persons, one at a time at different times, may nevertheless be a public performance

(94-100 - PRINCIPLES OF COPYRIGHT Cases and Materials - PROFESSOR DAVID VAVER)

5 PUBLIC COMMUNICATION RIGHT

As noted earlier, this right to broadcast (Berne, Article 11bis) may overlap with the older public
performance right in Berne, Article 11. Thus, in the U.S., one definition of “to perform a work publicly”
is: to transmit or otherwise communicate a performance or display of the work … to the public, by
means of any device or process, whether the members of the public capable of receiving the
performance or display receive it in the same place or in separate places and at the same or at different
times.

+ Providing music to telephone users while they are put “on hold” may be a public communication.

+ Uplinking or downlinking a work via a satellite for distribution to subscribers may be a public
performance or public communication.

(101-103 - PRINCIPLES OF COPYRIGHT Cases and Materials - PROFESSOR DAVID VAVER)

Moral Rights:
1.RIGHT OF (PATERNITY) ATTRIBUTION

The author has the right to have his work attributed. This right is infringed if his name is omitted.

+ Infringement of the attribution right is aggravated if another person’s name is substituted for the true
author’s name

+ The provider of an idea, though not an author, may also deserve recognition

(75-76 - PRINCIPLES OF COPYRIGHT Cases and Materials - PROFESSOR DAVID VAVER)

2. RIGHT OF INTEGRITY

Before the moral right of integrity is infringed, Berne article 6bis requires the plaintiff to show that his
honour or reputation has been prejudiced by the change.

+ Proof of prejudice to honour or reputation may require objective evidence, other than merely that of
the author

(76-78 - PRINCIPLES OF COPYRIGHT Cases and Materials - PROFESSOR DAVID VAVER)

3. RIGHT OF FALSE ATTRIBUTION:

Moral rights may, in many jurisdictions, be expressly waived unilaterally or by agreement. Whether the
waiver needs to be in writing or whether it may be validly made orally, depends on the legislation of the
particular country.

-A waiver need not be express: it may be implied from the circumstances.

(79-81 - PRINCIPLES OF COPYRIGHT Cases and Materials - PROFESSOR DAVID VAVER)

The right to object to false attribution is the oldest of the statutory moral rights, originating (albeit in a
limited form) in the Fine Arts Copyright Act 1862. Found in Section 84 of the 1988 Act, the right to object
to false attribution allows individuals to avoid being named on works they are not the author of, and
applies to literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works, as well as films. It only applies to acts of false
attribution perpetrated after 1 August 1989, and lasts for 20 years after the death of the person falsely
attributed with authorship. It is infringed whenever an individual issues copies of a work to the public,
exhibits them in public or broadcasts them with a false attribution.

Cornish, Llewelyn & Aplin (2010) p.526

4. PRIVACY RIGHT:

The moral right to privacy was the "first acknowledgement in English law of any right to privacy",
although it operates in limited circumstances. Under it, where an individual has a photograph or film
commissioned for private use, and this is original enough to be copyrighted, they hold a monopoly on
broadcasting it, showing it publicly and issuing copies to the public. This right lasts for the length of the
copyright, and each commissioner of the work holds the right individually; any person who has
commissioned the work may choose to license it.

Cornish, Llewelyn & Aplin (2010) p.525 526