What acts are considered infringements of the author’s moral rights?

An author’s moral rights are a particularly important group of rights, closely linked to the honor, reputation, and creative imprint of the creator of a work. However, in the process of exploiting and using works, many individuals and organizations have unintentionally or intentionally committed acts that infringe upon these rights without realizing the legal risks. So, what actions are considered infringements of an author’s moral rights according to the current Intellectual Property Law?

What rights are included in an author’s moral rights?

According to Article 19 of the 2022 Intellectual Property Law, the author’s moral rights include four basic rights:

“1. Naming the work.

The author has the right to transfer the right to name the work to the organization or individual receiving the transfer of property rights as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 20 of this Law;

2. Using their real name or pseudonym on the work; having their real name or pseudonym mentioned when the work is published or used;

3. Publishing the work or allowing others to publish the work;

4. Protecting the integrity of the work from distortion; preventing others from modifying or abridging the work in any way that harms the author’s honor and reputation.”

The above rights are closely tied to the author and, in principle, cannot be transferred to others. However, the right to publish the work may be transferred by the author to another organization or individual by agreement in accordance with the law.

What actions are considered infringements of an author’s moral rights?

Moral rights are a group of rights directly linked to the honor, reputation, and creative imprint of an author. Therefore, any action that illegally affects the title of a work, the author’s name, the right to publish, or the integrity of the work’s content can be considered an infringement of moral rights according to the Intellectual Property Law.

Below are some typical infringing actions commonly encountered in practice:

Infringement of the right to name a work

First and foremost, the author has the absolute right to name their work. The title of a work not only serves as an identifier but also expresses the idea and message the author wishes to convey.

Therefore, any act of arbitrarily changing the title of a work or using a different title when exploiting the work without the author’s consent is considered an infringement.

Examples:

• Arbitrarily changing the title of a book, article, song, or image when reposting it.

• Using a work but using a different title for commercial purposes.

• Intentionally renaming it to mislead about the original content or meaning of the work.

Although often overlooked, this is the first direct violation of the author’s personal rights.

The act of not crediting or incorrectly crediting the author

This is the most common form of personal rights violation today, especially on the internet.

Examples:

• Reposting articles, images, or videos without crediting the author.

• Intentionally removing the author’s watermark, signature, or logo from the work.

• Attributing someone else’s name to the author of the work.

• Using the work in advertising or media without crediting the author.

According to the law, crediting the author is a mandatory obligation when using a work, even if permission has been obtained or payment has been made.

The act of publishing a work without the author’s permission

Authors have the right to decide when and how to publish their work. If a work is published, distributed, or shared to the public without the author’s permission, this constitutes a serious violation of moral rights.

Examples:

• Publishing book manuscripts or research papers without the author’s permission

• Distributing song demos or design drafts before official publication

• Employees independently releasing internal creative work

This right aims to protect the author’s control over their “intellectual offspring.”

The act of altering, cutting, or distorting a work

Among acts of violating moral rights, falsifying the content of a work is considered the most serious. The law allows authors to protect the integrity of their work and prohibits anyone from arbitrarily modifying it in a way that affects their honor and reputation.

Examples:

• Cutting and pasting content to distort the author’s viewpoint

• Editing images and designs to misinterpret the message

• Re-editing the work in a way that is offensive or deviates from the original

• Placing the work in a negative context, contrary to its original spirit

These are behaviors that are very easy to occur in media, marketing, and journalism if not careful.

Deleting copyright information, concealing the origin of the work

In addition to the above behaviors, deleting watermarks, metadata, and author information on design files, images, videos, etc., is also considered a violation of moral rights.

This behavior is often aimed at concealing the origin of the work for unauthorized use without detection.

Legal consequences of violating the author’s moral rights

When violating moral rights, the infringing individual or organization may face many serious legal consequences, depending on the nature and extent of the violation, including:

• Administrative penalties according to Decree 131/2013/ND-CP

• Mandatory public apology and correction

• Mandatory compensation for emotional damages to the author

• Removal, recall, and destruction of infringing publications

• Civil lawsuit in court

In many cases, damage to honor and reputation is far greater than material damage.

The above is an article titled “What acts are considered infringements of the author’s moral rights?“. Hopefully, you understand that protecting personal rights is also protecting the ethical and legal foundations in the creation and use of works today.

Sincerely,

FAQ