Parody, Satire, Honour and Reputation: The Interplay between Economic and Moral Rights

Abstract

This article examines the interplay between the moral rights provisions, introduced into Australian copyright law in 2000, and the more recently introduced defence of fair dealing for the purposes of parody or satire. The legislation gives effect to a theoretical and legislative dichotomy between moral rights, and the economic rights. However, a potential conflict arises between the author’s moral right to object to derogatory treatment of his or her work and the defence of fair dealing for parody or satire, which will often involve criticism or attack which may be seen as derogatory. The application of both aspects of the law in different copyright contexts will be considered, namely potential disputes with respect to literary and dramatic works, artistic works, musical works and cinematograph films.

Keywords: copyright, moral rights, parody, satire, defences

JEL Classification: K11