assignment of economic rights

• Find a Lawyer
• Ask a Lawyer
• Research the Law
• Law Schools
• Laws & Regs
• Newsletters
• Justia Connect
• Pro Membership
• Basic Membership
• Justia Lawyer Directory
• Platinum Placements
• Gold Placements
• Justia Elevate
• Justia Amplify
• PPC Management
• Google Business Profile
• Social Media
• Justia Onward Blog

Assignment of Copyrights & Legal Implications

Copyright gives authors a bundle of personal property or economic rights in an original work of authorship. These rights include the rights to reproduce, create derivative works, distribute work to the public, publicly perform a work, publicly display visual works, and digitally transmit sound records. They belong exclusively to a copyright holder.

Usually, the copyright holder is the person who created the work. However, any of these economic rights, or any part of these economic rights, can be transferred. Under the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA), an artist’s moral rights in a work of fine art can be waived but not assigned.

An original owner who assigns their copyright to someone else will not retain any right to control how the work is used.

The transfer of economic rights may be on an exclusive basis, which requires a written agreement, or a non-exclusive basis, which does not require a written agreement. Most commonly, this transfer is accomplished by assignment or license. Unlike a license in which the copyright owner maintains their ownership, an assignment is similar to a sale. The original copyright owner sells the rights to a third party and cannot control how the rights are used, just as they would not be able to control how personal property that they sold was used once it was transferred.

Generally, a license is preferable if a copyright holder expects to continue exercising interests and control over the work. For example, if you assign your copyright in a song to a music producer, the decision about whether to allow a film studio to use your song in a film will belong to the producer, not to you. If you license your copyright in a song in a limited capacity to a music producer, however, you will continue to be able to license your copyright in the song to a film producer.

Assignments can be used for many different purposes, such as security for debt, as an asset passed to heirs, or as part of the distribution of assets after a bankruptcy proceeding. Once you assign your rights to somebody else, however, you are permanently giving away your right to control the work. That means if you try to exercise any of the rights you have assigned, you are committing copyright infringement even though you created the work. If you assign your copyright to somebody else and regret the loss, you may be able to buy your copyright back from that person, but whether or not to sell it back to you is up to the assignee.

How Is Copyright Assigned?

Under Section 204 , a transfer of ownership is only valid if the instrument, note, or memorandum of transfer is in writing, signed by the copyright owner or their duly authorized agent. Generally, a certificate of acknowledgment is not required for the transfer to be valid, but it can be used as prima facie evidence that a transfer was executed if it is issued by someone authorized to administer oaths in the United States or, if the transfer is executed abroad, if the certificate is issued by a United States diplomatic or consular official, or a person authorized to administer oaths who also provides a certificate.

Formally recording an assignment with the Copyright Office is not required but can be advantageous.

You do not have to record an assignment in order to assign the interest. However, there are advantages to recording the assignment, such as creating a public record of the transfer details, giving constructive notice to members of the public, establishing priority of rights when there are conflicting transfers of ownership, validating the transfer of the copyright against a third party, or in some cases perfecting a security interest.

Last reviewed October 2023

Intellectual Property Law Center Contents   

• Intellectual Property Law Center
• Copyright Infringement & Related Lawsuits
• Copyright Ownership Under the Law
• Assignment of Copyrights & Legal Implications
• Copyright Licensing Under the Law
• Copyright Registration Under the Law
• Safe Harbors for Online Service Providers Under Copyright Law
• Criminal Copyright Infringement Laws
• Enforcement of Copyrights Through Lawsuits & Criminal Charges
• Fair Use Defense to Copyright Infringement Lawsuits
• Software Development Agreements & Related Legal Concerns
• End-User License Agreements Imposing Legal Restrictions on Software
• Lists, Directories, and Databases Under Copyright Law
• Photos of Buildings and Architecture Under Copyright Law
• Photos of Copyrighted or Trademarked Works & the Fair Use Defense to Infringement Lawsuits
• Works in the Public Domain After Copyrights Legally Expire
• Copyrights and Credits for Songwriters Under the Law
• Music Samples and Copyright Infringement Lawsuits
• Playing Music in Stores or Restaurants — How to Avoid Copyright Infringement Lawsuits
• Consignment Sales by Artists to Stores & Legal Protections
• Destruction of Copyrighted Works & Limited Legal Protections
• Copyright Legal Forms
• Trademark Law
• Trade Secret Law
• Choosing Among Patent, Copyright, and Trademark for Legal Protection
• Intellectual Property Law FAQs
• Find an Intellectual Property Lawyer

Related Areas   

• Small Business Legal Center
• Entertainment Law Center
• Communications and Internet Law Center
• Sports Law Center
• Related Areas
• Bankruptcy Lawyers
• Business Lawyers
• Criminal Lawyers
• Employment Lawyers
• Estate Planning Lawyers
• Family Lawyers
• Personal Injury Lawyers
• Estate Planning
• Personal Injury
• Business Formation
• Business Operations
• Intellectual Property
• International Trade
• Real Estate
• Financial Aid
• Course Outlines
• Law Journals
• US Constitution
• Regulations
• Supreme Court
• Circuit Courts
• District Courts
• Dockets & Filings
• State Constitutions
• State Codes
• State Case Law
• Legal Blogs
• Business Forms
• Product Recalls
• Justia Connect Membership
• Justia Premium Placements
• Justia Elevate (SEO, Websites)
• Justia Amplify (PPC, GBP)
• Testimonials

Jurisdictions

A list of all countries, regions and trading blocs covered by Legal 500 rankings and research list of all countries and trading blocs covered by Legal 500

Green Guide

Exploring the legal sector’s engagement with a green transition

Future Lawyers

The student’s guide to the UK legal profession

Deutschland DE

Auflistung und Ranking von ca. 400 Anwaltskanzleien verschiedener Praxisbereiche in Deutschland

Plus de 300 cabinets d’avocats opérant en France

Global directory of profiled law firms

Barristers’ Sets

Directory of profiled sets

Law Firm Networks

International law firm network index

Service Providers

Suppliers offering support services to legal professionals

Firms in the Spotlight

Featured law firms in specific practice areas and jurisdictions

Firms to Watch

Firms To Watch recognises emerging practices, specialist boutiques and ground-breaking firms that may not otherwise be ranked in Legal 500.

Meet the Team

Meet the team provides extra insight into a specific team’s capabilities and expertise above and beyond what is included within Legal 500 rankings.

Hall of Fame

Law firm partners with long-term experience at the top of the profession

Interview with…

Explore firms’ practices, capabilities, values and cultures through expert interviews with partners

Enterprise GC

An elite, exclusive residential conference bringing together market-leading general counsels

GC Magazine

Leading content for general counsel

GC Powerlist

Recognising VIP general counsel for their innovation, impact and market-leading standing within major global economies

In-House Lawyer

The magazine of choice of the in-house counsel of the UK and EMEA

Comparative Guides

Knowledge centre.

Examining legal perspectives on specific topics across different countries

News & Developments

Latest news and thought leadership from law firms around the world

Special Reports

In-depth reports on legal trends and insights from global law experts.

Legal Business

The market-leading monthly magazine for legal professionals at elite law firms globally

Upcoming Events

Legal 500’s extensive, market-leading programme of summits, awards, powerlist receptions, roundtables delivering cutting-edge discussion and debate globally

Previous Events

Highlights, thought leadership and insights from past legal events and webinars

Corporate Conversations

Insightful discussions with industry leaders on pivotal legal topics

Legal 500 TV

Find out more about the team behind the world’s most successful and highly respected legal market research organisation

Answers to Legal 500’s most frequently asked questions

Submissions

Comprehensive guidance on how to showcase your firm’s capabilities to the world’s most highly respected legal market research team

Bespoke practice area or jurisdictional reporting

Marketing Resources

Display your Legal 500 Ranking on your website

Contact Legal 500 for more information on submissions, commercial and marketing opportunities or more details of our portfolio of research products

Newsletters

Sign up for more information on our portfolio of research products

Rankings open close

Firms open close, lawyers open close, in-house open close, knowledge centre open close, events open close, about us open close, assignment of the author’s economic rights.

May 25, 2021 > Turkey > Intellectual Property

Erdem & Erdem Law Office | View firm profile

The author is the person creating the work and automatically becomes the owner of the economic rights on the work by the creation thereof. If the author does not have the resources to solely exercise the economic rights on the work, s/he may apply two different methods to benefit from the economic rights as regulated under Intellectual and Artistic Works Act numbered 5846 (“IAWC”). These methods assign the economic rights and assign the authority to exercise the economic rights; in other words, granting licenses for economic rights.

Assignment and License

The author has six economic rights, which are the right of adaptation, right of reproduction, right of distribution, right of performance, right to communicate a work to the public by devices enabling the transmission of signs, sounds and/or images, and right to payment of the sale of share proceeds, and pursue the same as designated under Articles 21 – 25 and 45 of the IAWC. If the author assigns an economic right, the assigned economic right leaves the assets of the author and becomes a value within the assets of the right holder who assigned the economic right. The assignee right holder becomes the owner of all rights attached to the assigned economic right, including the right to initiate an action. On the other hand, if the author grants a license on the economic right, such economic right remains under the assets of the licensor author. The licensee right holder only has the right to use and benefit from the licensed economic right.[1]

Assignment Agreement

Economic rights are assigned through a written assignment agreement. The rights to be assigned should be explicitly designated under the assignment agreement. Requirements of written form and explicit designation of the assigned economic rights are validity conditions; therefore, clauses, such as “all economic rights are assigned,” or “the right to reproduction etc. are assigned,” will not be deemed valid as per Article 52 of the IAWC.[2]

Economic rights may be assigned on a limited or unlimited basis with respect to location and duration. Economic rights may also be assigned with or without the requirement to pay any consideration for the assignment. Additionally, economic rights may be assigned to different persons by limiting the scope of the right. For instance, a photographer may assign the right of reproduction and right of distribution of his/her photographs only to be displayed within a certain catalogue. In this case, the assignee right holder may not use these photographs in any other environment, such as written press or the internet, except such catalogue as referred to herein.

The assignee right holder may not assign the economic rights to third parties without obtaining the written consent of the author or his/her heirs, unless the right to assign to third parties is set forth under the assignment agreement (IAWC Article 49/1). The reason why the consent of the author is required is to establish the connection with the author. The work is not severed, and the control of the author over the use of the work is established.[3]

License Agreement

The author may grant a license to exercise economic rights on the work without assigning economic rights (IAWC Article 48/2). Upon granting a license to exercise an economic right, such licensed economic right remains within the assets of the author (or the right holder), and the licensee will only be entitled to exercise such economic right.

The law regulates two different types of licenses, those being exclusive or non-exclusive license. A license is non-exclusive if it does not prohibit the holder of the economic right to grant the same license to others and is exclusive if it is granted to only one person. In the case of an exclusive license, unless otherwise determined, even the author (or the economic right holder) may not exercise such right. Unless to the contrary can be deduced from the law or agreement, all licenses are deemed to be non-exclusive. The provisions on usufructuary leases will apply to non-exclusive licenses, and those on usufruct leases shall apply to exclusive licenses. (IAWC Article 56)

The license to exercise an economic right is granted through a written license agreement in which all rights to license are explicitly specified. In the same manner, and with respect to assignment agreements, written form is a validity condition. Any vague expressions regarding licensed economic rights will be deemed invalid. The license right may also be assigned on a limited or unlimited basis with respect to location, duration and scope. Additionally, the license may be granted with or without the requirement to pay any consideration. For instance, an exclusive license on the right to reproduce the musical work of a symphony may be granted to a publishing house, a non-exclusive license on the right to perform the symphony may be granted to a concert organizer, and non-exclusive licenses on the right to communicate the work to the public may be granted to two different TV channels.[4]

Granting an exclusive license on an economic right does not create an obstacle for the assignment of such economic right, because the licensed economic right remains within the assets of the right holder; however, the rights of the exclusive licensee will be protected against the new right holder.[5]

The provision prohibiting the assignment of the assigned economic right by the right holder to third parties without obtaining the written consent of the author (or his/her heirs) also applies to license agreements. Accordingly, the exclusive or non-exclusive licensee may not grant a license to third parties without obtaining the written consent of the author (or his/her heirs), unless the right to grant a license to third parties is set forth under the license agreement (IAWC Article 49/1).

Acts of Disposal on Incomplete Works

Only the completed works may be the subject of an assignment or license agreement (i.e. acts of disposal), and assignment or license agreements with regard to incomplete works are invalid. However, commitments regarding the acts of disposal are valid even if they are made prior to the creation of the work[6] (IAWC Article 48/3, 50/1).

In the case of a commitment regarding the acts of disposal, assigning or granting a license on the economic rights of the work following the completion of the work constitutes the subject matter of the commitment. Thus, the right holder may request the assignment or license of the economic right on the work once the work is created. For instance, an artist may undertake to grant a gallery with a license, or assigning the right of performance, on the painting s/he is then painting by executing a contract with the gallery. Once the work is completed, the gallery is entitled to request the transfer of the economic right, for which the artist and gallery must conclude a second agreement, whereby the terms and provisions of the assignment and/or license are indicated.

As assignment and license agreements, commitments regarding the acts of disposal on incomplete works are also concluded in writing, and the economic rights that are subject to a commitment should be explicitly indicated thereby. A written form requirement is a validity condition.[7]

Although concluding an assignment and license agreement on the economic rights of an incomplete work is deemed invalid by law, such assignment and license agreements are frequently encountered in practice in Turkey, due to the impact of Anglo-Saxon law. In the events where the economic rights on the incomplete work are assigned or licensed, the Supreme Court, by considering the facts of the concrete cases, has either resolved that such assignment or license agreement is deemed to be considered as a commitment to assign or grant license on the incomplete work within the scope of Article 50/1 of the IAWC, or is deemed to be invalid due to Article 48/3 of the IAWC. Therefore, if the economic rights of the incomplete works are to be assigned or licensed, such agreement should be drafted as an undertaking to assign or license, rather than an assignment or license agreement. Furthermore, as the economic rights will not be automatically transferred to the right holder during the commitment period, a second agreement on the assignment or license should be executed after the work is created.

Right of Rescission

If the acquirer of an economic right or a license exercises his/her rights and authorities, insufficiently, within the agreed period, or where no period is determined within a reasonable time, and if thereby the author’s interests are significantly violated, the author may rescind the agreement (IAWC Article 58). The right to rescind is a formative right, and the economic right returns to the author by exercising the right to rescind.[8]

In order for an author to exercise the right to rescind, the statutory requirements as to form must be fulfilled. Accordingly, the author wishing to exercise the right to rescind must grant the other party, upon notifying him/her through a notary public, a period of time adequate to exercise its contractual rights. The notice issued by the notary public gives effect to the rescission of the agreement, if the expiration date for the granted period is exceeded, or if it is not necessary to grant such period. The granting of such a period is not necessary, if it is impossible for the other party to exercise such right, or if he/she refuses to exercise it, or if the granting of such period would significantly jeopardize the author’s interests.

The other party does not have to be at fault in order for the author to exercise the right to rescind. However, if the other party is at fault, then the author may request compensation in accordance with the provisions of Turkish Code of Obligations numbered 6098. On the other hand, if fault is attributable to the author, he/she may not exercise the right to rescind.

The right of rescission may not be waived in advance, and limitations precluding its exercise for more than two years are null and void (IAWC Article 58/5). Action of objection may be pursued in the four weeks following the service of the rescission notification. If no action of objection is initiated within the four weeks, it should be concluded that the rescission was just.[9]

When the author does not have the financial resources to benefit from the economic rights on his/her work, he/she may assign or grant a license on the economic rights to third parties. Economic rights may be assigned or licensed on a limited or unlimited basis in terms of location, duration and scope. Also, there is no legal requirement to pay any consideration for the assignment or license. Assignment or license agreements regarding incomplete works are deemed invalid. However, an undertaking may be given for the assignment or licensing of the economic rights to have arisen from the creation of the work. If the author assigns or grants a license on the economic rights, and the assignee or licensee fails to exercise these economic rights as designated under the agreement during the term of the agreement and, thus, the interests of the author are materially violated, the author may use the statutory right of rescission to terminate the assignment or license agreement.

(Authored by Hazel Coskun Baylan and first published by Erdem & Erdem, April 2021)

[1]  Bozbel, Savaş:  Fikri Mülkiyet Hukuku. On İki Levha Yayıncılık, 2015, p. 198-199.

[2]  Tekinalp, Ünal:  Fikir ve Sanat Eserleri Hukuku, Vedat Kitapçılık, 2012, p. 232.

[3]  Karahan, Sami; Suluk, Cahit; Saraç, Tahir; Nal, Temel : Fikri Mülkiyet Hukukunun Esasları, Seçkin Yayıncılık, 2012, p. 117.

[4]  Tekinalp:  p. 232.

[5]  Karahan; Suluk; Saraç; Nal : p. 117.

[6] Commitments regarding the acts of disposal may also be given if the work is completed.

[7]  Tekinalp:  p. 232.

[8]  Bozbel:  p. 220.

[9]  Bozbel:  p. 220.

More from Erdem & Erdem Law Office

• Module 4: Rights, Exceptions, and Limitations
• 1 Learning objective
• 2 Case study
• 4.1 Rights Relating to Reproduction and Distribution of a Work
• 4.2 Rights Relating to Communication of a Work to the Public
• 5 Moral Rights
• 6 Neighboring and "Sui Generis" Rights
• 7 Rental and Lending Rights
• 8 Exceptions and Limitations
• 9.1 Allowing Library Patrons to Use the Library’s Copy Machines or Other Copy Equipment
• 9.2 Making Copyrighted Materials Available on the Library's Computers
• 9.3 Making Copies for Library Patrons
• 9.4 Making Digital Copies for Preservation and Replacement
• 9.5 Creating Course Packs for Students
• 9.6 Adapting Materials for the Blind, Visually Impaired and other Reading Disabled Persons
• 9.7 Inter-Library Loans
• 10 Compulsory Licenses
• 11 Back to the case study
• 12 Additional Resources
• 14 Assignment and discussion questions
• 15 Contributors

Learning objective

This module will teach you about the rights of a copyright holder and about the exceptions to and limitations on those rights.

Maria, Angela's aunt, is a collector of sheet music. Many of the documents in her collection are handwritten; some are unique. She has just decided to donate the entire collection to the university library. Angela meets with Nadia to discuss how the library might best make use of the collection. In particular, Angela asks Nadia to make digital copies of all of the compositions in Maria's collection and to make those copies available to the world on the library's servers.

Economic Rights

Rights relating to reproduction and distribution of a work.

The heart of copyright law is the right to make copies of a protected work. This is called the "right of reproduction." The copyright holder has the exclusive right to make or authorize such copies. Creating a copy without the authorization of the holder infringes upon the copyright, unless permitted by an exception to or limitation on the reproduction right. As we saw in Module 2: The International Framework , the right of reproduction is widely acknowledged by international agreements. As we will soon discuss, however, those same agreements also empower member countries to create exceptions and limitations to this (and other) rights. The copyright statutes of virtually all countries recognize the right of reproduction.

What does "reproduction" mean? Most obviously, it includes making a copy in the literal sense -- for example, by photocopying a book or article. It also includes converting a copyrighted work into a new format -- such as using a tape recorder to copy a vinyl album. Less obviously, it includes making a new work that is "substantially similar" to an existing work, while having that existing work in mind. So, for example, an art student who stands in front of a painting and paints a faithful replica of it would violate the original painter's right of reproduction (unless the student could invoke one of the exceptions or limitations discussed previously). As one might imagine, the question of how close one work must be to another to be "substantially similar" is highly controversial and is often litigated.

Closely related to the right of reproduction is the right of adaptation , which provides copyright holders with the right to adapt a copyrighted work from one form of expression to another, or to authorize another to do so. Examples of adaptations include transforming a book into a movie or a song into a musical. The right of adaptation is also found in virtually all copyright systems. For example, Article 12 of the Berne Convention requires member countries to grant authors the right to authorize “adaptations, arrangements, and other alterations of” copyrighted works. The right of adaptation also encompasses the right to translate a work into other languages. Article 8 of the Berne Convention requires member countries to recognize this right of translation. In some legal systems, the right of adaptation is expressed as the right to make “derivative works,” which use the original work as a starting point but are not direct copies of the original work.

In most countries, the reproduction right and the adaptation right are closely aligned. In other words, the majority of activities that violate the adaptation right also violate the reproduction right. However, there are exceptions. For example, cutting up a photograph to include it in a collage may violate the adaptation right (unless of course that behavior is excused by one of the exceptions or limitations). But, because that activity did not entail making a new copy, it would not violate the right of reproduction. However, the degree of overlap between these two rights varies somewhat by country. Which of the two rights is implicated by a particular case will sometimes make a difference -- for example, if the copyright owner has granted a license for one of the rights but not the other.

How far do these rights reach? Recall from Module 3: The Scope of Copyright Law that copyright only protects the expression of ideas, not the ideas or facts themselves. Thus, a work that is inspired by the ideas contained in another work but does not use any of the protected expression from the initial work is neither a reproduction nor an adaptation, and will not violate the copyright holder's rights. Also, note that Article 2(3) of the Berne Convention provides that authorized adaptations are protected by their own, separate copyright, in addition to the copyright protection given to the original work.

Finally, a copyright holder also has the exclusive right to distribute his or her work, and the right to import copies of the work subject to certain exceptions. The right to distribute encompasses the right to sell or authorize the initial sale of a copy of the work.

Rights Relating to Communication of a Work to the Public

Another important economic right of a copyright holder is the right to communicate the work to the public. In many countries, this right is expressed as the right of public performance and public display . The right of public performance relates to showings of plays, movies, and music. The right of public display relates to the display of artwork such as paintings and sculptures. Article 11 of the Berne Convention requires member countries to grant the holders of copyrights in “dramatic and musical works” the right to control public performances of those works “by any means or process” (including, for example, a live performance or playing a recording of a performance). Article 11 also extends the right of public performance to translations of a copyrighted work. It also requires that copyright holders be given the right to authorize the broadcasting or public communication of the copyrighted work by wire, loudspeaker, “or any analogous instrument transmitting, by signs, sounds, or images.”

As their labels indicate, the rights of public display and public performance only control activities that are public. Thus, persons who own authorized copies of copyrighted works may display or broadcast the works in non-public settings without risk of infringement. For example, a person who owns a copy of a movie may play the movie in her home to a group of social guests without infringing the right of public performance. Similarly, a person who owns a painting or sculpture may display the work in her home without infringing the right of public display.

The copyright holder’s right to control the public performance of her work extends to many communications that might not initially seem like “performances.” For example, as indicated above, it grants a copyright holder the right to authorize broadcasts of her work. This includes television broadcasting, cable distribution, satellite distribution, and re-broadcasts of a work. It can also encompass on-demand digital transmissions and pay-per-view broadcasts. At least in some countries, the right also extends to performances in settings that don't seem especially "public" in the ordinary sense -- for example, in schools, nursing homes, and prisons.

The WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and WIPO Performers and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT), discussed in Module 2 , altered this set of rules subtly -- and in ways that have not yet been fully resolved. Article 8 of the WCT and Articles 10 and 12 of the WPPT require member countries to recognize a right to make a copyrighted work "available" to the public. The United States has taken the position that these treaty provisions do not require any change in the way that the US has formulated and enforced the right of public performance. Not all countries agree. The EU, for example, has taken the position that the "making available" right adds something new. The principal circumstance in which this disagreement might make a difference is when someone posts a copyrighted document on a website, but no one has yet downloaded it. The treatment of such cases may vary by country.

Moral Rights

Many countries provide authors moral rights in addition to economic rights. Unlike economic rights, moral rights usually cannot be transferred to other persons, although many countries allow them to be waived -- either altogether (for example, in the United States) or in conjunction with specific licenses of economic rights (for example, in France). The limits on transfers of moral rights reflects the rationale that underlie them -- namely, that the works produced by an author are an extension of his or her self and bear the an imprint of his or her personality. Accordingly, moral rights protect certain copyrighted works from destruction or mutilation, partially to protect the author’s expression of her personality, and partially to protect the author’s reputation from harm. Moral rights are recognized especially broadly in countries with civil law traditions.

Recognition of a limited subset of moral rights is mandated by Article 6bis of the Berne Convention . Article 6bis requires that the author of a work be given at least two types of moral rights. The first is commonly know as the "right of attribution." It encompasses not only the right of an author to have her name associated with her works, but also the right to not have her name associated with works that are not hers. The right of attribution also gives an author the right to publish a work under a pseudonym. The second moral right required by Article 6bis is the author's right to object to the destruction or modification of her work in a way that would harm her honor or reputation. This is commonly known as the "right of integrity."

Although Article 6bis recommends that these moral rights extend after the author’s death, at least until the economic rights expire, it also allows member countries to limit moral rights to the life of the author. However, the protections of Article 6bis are not as strong as they may seem, because it is the only provision in the Berne Convention that is not incorporated by the TRIPS Agreement. Thus the “teeth” provided by the WTO dispute resolution system are not available to compel member countries to recognize moral rights.

In addition to the right of attribution and the right of integrity, many countries also recognize a right of disclosure and a right of withdrawal. The former gives an author the exclusive right to determine when she will release a work to the public. This right takes precedence even over a contractual commitment by the author to transfer the work to a client or patron. The latter permits an author to withdraw works from publication or circulation if she determines that she no longer wants to be represented by or associated with those particular works. This right is much less powerful in practice than it first appears, both because the author would have to pay the people from who the copies are withdrawn and because the right of withdrawal is trumped by the right of a purchaser to keep goods he or she has purchased. As a result, it is almost never invoked.

It is important to check your country’s statutory provisions relating to moral rights. Nations vary considerably on the rights they recognize, the duration of those rights, whether they may be waived, and so forth. For example, in Spain, seven moral rights are recognized: the right of disclosure, the right to publish under the author's real name or a pseudonym, the right to be acknowledged as the author of the work, the right to the integrity of the work (which includes the right to prevent distortion or modification of the work), the right to modify the work (limited by other statutory provisions), the right to withdraw the work, and the right of access to a single or rare copy of the work, even if that copy is owned by a third party (though the author’s exercise of this right is limited by certain considerations for the holder of the copy).

Neighboring and "Sui Generis" Rights

“Neighboring rights” (also called related rights ) consist of the rights of those who assist the author of a copyrighted work, but who do not qualify for a copyright in the work. They include the rights of broadcasters and broadcasting organizations in their transmissions of programs (as opposed to the copyrights in the programs themselves), the right of an artist in her performance of a piece (as distinguished from the copyright in the underlying work itself), and the right of the producer of a record (as opposed to the copyright in the musical compositions that the record embodies). It is important to keep these neighboring rights in mind, in addition to the rights of the copyright holder, when considering what uses of a given work are permissible.

In addition to the neighboring rights attached to performances, some countries recently have recognized rights in databases, semiconductor chip designs, boat-hull designs, and so forth. These rights are commonly known as sui generis rights -- although the distinction between "neighboring rights" and "sui generis" rights is largely arbitrary. Of these new rights, the only one that might significantly affect the activities of librarians is the protection of databases. As indicated above, most countries use ordinary copyright law to protect original ways in which the data in a database is selected or arranged. But, so far, only in the European Union are the contents of the database protected.

The EU's database protection system is highly controversial. Critics contend that it is unnecessary to provide incentives for the creation of databases and merely impedes the flow of factual information. However, efforts to test this criticism empirically by comparing the rates of database innovation in countries with and without database protection rules have thus far been inconclusive. Until the dispute is resolved, database protection is unlikely to spread to developing countries.

Rental and Lending Rights

In addition to the rights described above, in some countries the holders of copyrights in some kinds of works have been given rights of various sorts in situations where their works are temporarily made available to other persons. Two quite different rights must be distinguished. A rental right governs situations in which a copy of a copyrighted work is rented to someone for commercial advantage. A public lending right governs situations in which a copy of a copyrighted work is provided temporarily by an institution to a patron for free. The lending practices of almost all public and academic libraries would fall under the second heading.

Both rights are relatively new and remain highly controversial. The TRIPS Agreement (in Article 11), the WCT (in Article 7), and the WPPT (in Articles 9 and 13) now all require member countries to recognize rental rights -- but only with respect to three narrow categories of works: computer programs, movies, and phonograms. None of these agreements -- and no other multilateral treaty -- requires member countries to recognize public lending rights. Thus far, only one regional agreement requires member countries to establish public lending rights: the 1992 Rental and Lending Rights Directive of the EU((.link_green)) . Articles 1 and 2 of that directive require members to extend both rental and lending rights, not just to performers, phonogram producers, and film producers, but also to "authors." Article 5 of the directive permits member countries to limit the lending right, but only if authors are compensated, or to exempt categories of institutions from its coverage, but only if they do not thereby effectively exempt all institutions. The directive proved extremely controversial, and formal proceedings were necessary to force several EU members to conform to it.

Given the highly incomplete coverage of rental and public lending rights in the supranational agreements, it is not surprising that many countries currently do not recognize them. Of particular importance to libraries, currently only 29 countries have established public lending rights systems. Most of those countries are in Europe. The United States does not have one, nor does any country in Latin America, Africa, or Asia.

Librarians in developing countries may soon be called upon to participate in discussions concerning whether their countries should adopt a public lending right system. What position should they take? The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) offers two sensible recommendations((.link_red)) . First, librarians should not accept any legislative proposals that would require the libraries themselves to pay fees to authors, performers, and producers. The only ways that libraries could make such payments would be either to charge users or to withdraw scarce resources from other programs. Either strategy would fundamentally impair the libraries' core mission. In short, the only acceptable version of a public lending system would be one in which the government, not the libraries, paid the fees -- as occurs in most European countries. Second, the IFLA argues that even a system in which the government paid the fees would be unwise in developing countries, because it would reduce the money the government could spend on even more essential social or cultural functions -- such as providing its citizens adequate health care or basic educations.

This issue will almost certainly require librarians' close attention in the near future.

Exceptions and Limitations

As was shown in Module 2: The International Framework , all of the international copyright agreements permit countries to make certain exceptions to the rights we have described thus far. Every country has indeed made such exceptions. The purposes of these exceptions vary. Some are justified by the need to respect freedom of expression or privacy. Others are intended to prevent copyright law from frustrating rather than fostering creativity. Still others recognize the impossibility of monitoring and charging for some uses. The list of exceptions is very long. In general, the exceptions should be considered just as important as the rights they qualify. Together, they are intended to strike a balance between the interests of authors and the interests of users and the public at large. For this reason, it is sometimes said that the exceptions create "user rights."

The exceptions take one of two forms. Exceptions of the first type identify specific permissible activities. An influential example of this approach is Article 5 of the EU Copyright Directive . Section 2 of that article authorizes EU member countries to provide for the following exceptions to the right of reproduction:

(a) in respect of reproductions on paper or any similar medium, effected by the use of any kind of photographic technique or by some other process having similar effects, with the exception of sheet music, provided that the rightholders receive fair compensation;

(b) in respect of reproductions on any medium made by a natural person for private use and for ends that are neither directly nor indirectly commercial, on condition that the rightholders receive fair compensation which takes account of the application or non-application of technological measures referred to in Article 6 to the work or subject-matter concerned;

(c) in respect of specific acts of reproduction made by publicly accessible libraries, educational establishments or museums, or by archives, which are not for direct or indirect economic or commercial advantage;

(d) in respect of ephemeral recordings of works made by broadcasting organisations by means of their own facilities and for their own broadcasts; the preservation of these recordings in official archives may, on the grounds of their exceptional documentary character, be permitted;

(e) in respect of reproductions of broadcasts made by social institutions pursuing non-commercial purposes, such as hospitals or prisons, on condition that the rightholders receive fair compensation.''

Section 3 then authorizes member states to create any of the following exceptions both to the right of reproduction and to the right to communicate or make works available to the public:

(a) use for the sole purpose of illustration for teaching or scientific research, as long as the source, including the author's name, is indicated, unless this turns out to be impossible and to the extent justified by the non-commercial purpose to be achieved;

(b) uses, for the benefit of people with a disability, which are directly related to the disability and of a non-commercial nature, to the extent required by the specific disability;

(c) reproduction by the press, communication to the public or making available of published articles on current economic, political or religious topics or of broadcast works or other subject-matter of the same character, in cases where such use is not expressly reserved, and as long as the source, including the author's name, is indicated, or use of works or other subject-matter in connection with the reporting of current events, to the extent justified by the informatory purpose and as long as the source, including the author's name, is indicated, unless this turns out to be impossible;

(d) quotations for purposes such as criticism or review, provided that they relate to a work or other subject-matter which has already been lawfully made available to the public, that, unless this turns out to be impossible, the source, including the author's name, is indicated, and that their use is in accordance with fair practice, and to the extent required by the specific purpose;

(e) use for the purposes of public security or to ensure the proper performance or reporting of administrative, parliamentary or judicial proceedings;

(f) use of political speeches as well as extracts of public lectures or similar works or subject-matter to the extent justified by the informatory purpose and provided that the source, including the author's name, is indicated, except where this turns out to be impossible;

(g) use during religious celebrations or official celebrations organised by a public authority;

(h) use of works, such as works of architecture or sculpture, made to be located permanently in public places;

(i) incidental inclusion of a work or other subject-matter in other material;

(j) use for the purpose of advertising the public exhibition or sale of artistic works, to the extent necessary to promote the event, excluding any other commercial use;

(k) use for the purpose of caricature, parody or pastiche;

(l) use in connection with the demonstration or repair of equipment;

(m) use of an artistic work in the form of a building or a drawing or plan of a building for the purposes of reconstructing the building;

(n) use by communication or making available, for the purpose of research or private study, to individual members of the public by dedicated terminals on the premises of establishments referred to in paragraph 2(c) of works and other subject-matter not subject to purchase or licensing terms which are contained in their collections;

(o) use in certain other cases of minor importance where exceptions or limitations already exist under national law, provided that they only concern analogue uses and do not affect the free circulation of goods and services within the Community, without prejudice to the other exceptions and limitations contained in this Article.

Many of these exceptions plainly benefit the libraries (and their users) in the EU countries that have recognized them. Especially noteworthy are the exceptions for "specific acts of reproduction made by publicly accessible libraries" so long as they are not for "economic or commercial advantage" and "uses for the benefit of people with a disability."

That said, the set of exceptions contained in Article 5 of the EU Copyright Directive is surely not the only example of the enumerated-list approach. The three-step test, discussed in Module 2 , gives individual countries considerably more latitude in selecting exceptions and limitations than the EU has exercised. Some countries have gone a good deal further.

The second general approach is to state some general guidelines for permissible uses and then delegate to the courts responsibility for applying those factors to individual cases. The premier example of this approach is the fair use doctrine in the United States, which is embodied in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act:

Notwithstanding the [statutory provisions granting copyright holders exclusive rights], the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

Courts in the United States have relied on this provision to recognize exceptions for a wide range of activities, including the making of a parody of a copyrighted work, reproducing a portion of a copyrighted work for the purpose of scholarship, and using a videocassette recorder to record a television program or movie for viewing at a later time.

In between these two general approaches is a strategy sometimes known as "fair dealing." A good example is the system used in Australia. The Australian Copyright Act (as amended in 2006) identifies some broad circumstances in which an unauthorized use of a copyrighted work might be considered fair: research, criticism or review, news reporting, legal advice, and parody or satire. Merely falling into one of these boxes does not mean, however, that a particular activity will be deemed fair. Rather, the courts consider individual cases by consulting a set of factors that loosely parallel the factors used in the US system. In general, the courts will excuse conduct within these boxes if they deem it appropriate "judged by the criterion of a fair minded and honest person." The Australian approach is generally thought to be less unpredictable -- but also less flexible -- than the US approach.

A separate and nearly universal exception to the rights of a copyright holder is the first sale doctrine. The first sale doctrine says that once a consumer has lawfully purchased a copy of a copyrighted work, the copyright holder no longer has the ability to control that particular copy. For this reason, resale, lending, or rental of a lawfully purchased copyrighted work is generally permissible. However, countries can impose certain limitations on these rights. They may restrict or require compulsory licenses for certain uses of copyrighted works. For example, as indicated above, a nation may prohibit the rental of goods that are easily and frequently copied, such as software or phonorecords. Additionally, a nation may require that the author of the work be paid a certain fee upon resale of a copy of a copyrighted work. (This so-called "droit de suite" only exists in a few jurisdictions, and even there only applies to unique works of fine art.)

The operation of the first sale doctrine is less intuitive with digital works. This is because what may seem like normal use from a consumer’s perspective may actually involve the making of additional digital copies. This in turn could be prohibited by the author’s exclusive right of reproduction. For example, if a consumer purchases a CD, she can listen to it on any CD player without worrying about infringing the author’s copyright. She can also, because of the first sale doctrine, lend that CD to a friend who can listen to it on a CD player and then give it back, without worrying about infringing the author’s rights. However, if that same consumer purchases a sound recording online, listens to it, and then emails a copy to a friend, she will have violated the copyright law (even if she deletes her original copy) because the original recording has been “reproduced.” There remains a serious policy question as to whether the first sale doctrine to govern such cases, but as yet that has not occurred.

Library Exceptions

Last but not least, the copyright laws of many countries contain exceptions or limitations designed to enable librarians to use copyrighted materials in ways that advance their missions. These provisions vary widely by country. For a thorough review of the library exceptions in limitations in 128 countries, you should consult Kenneth Crews’s Study on Copyright Limitations and Exceptions for Libraries and Archives .

Set forth below are descriptions of some common situations in which librarians need flexibility in using copyrighted materials, plus summaries of the ways in which many countries deal with those situations.

Allowing Library Patrons to Use the Library’s Copy Machines or Other Copy Equipment

Patrons frequently wish to make copies of excerpts of library-owned materials. Unless the book or article the patron is copying is in public domain, such copying is regulated by the country’s copyright statute. If the copying exceeds the maximum set by other exceptions and limitations, the patron may be committing copyright infringement. In some situations, absent a statutory or other safe harbor, the library could be held secondarily or indirectly liable for allowing the infringement to take place by providing the equipment. (The concepts of secondary and indirect liability will be discussed in more detail in Module 7 .)

Fortunately, many countries have enacted specific statutory provisions that shield librarians and libraries from liability for copyright infringement committed by patrons who use photocopiers or other equipment the library provides. To qualify for the statutory exemption, libraries typically must post a notice and a disclaimer, stating that the making of photocopies or other reproductions is governed by copyright law, and that the person using the equipment is liable for any infringement.

Making Copyrighted Materials Available on the Library's Computers

Libraries sometimes make materials available to the public on computers. For example, they sometimes operate websites and post on those websites materials that the public at large can reach via the Internet. If those materials are subject to copyright, and if the library fails to obtain permission for displaying them, it may be subject to liability. However, many countries have enacted so-called “safe harbor” exceptions to limit the liability of online service providers. To the extent that universities and libraries may be considered such providers, they are shielded from liability, as long as they comply with the procedures set forth in each country’s laws.

Making Copies for Library Patrons

Library patrons often ask librarians to make copies of copyrighted materials for their personal use. Many countries provide statutory exceptions that permit librarians to make limited copies for this purpose. Some allow such reproductions only for certain specified classes of works such as periodicals, while others make no such distinctions. Further, some countries only permit copying for purposes such as research, while others do not have this limitation.

By way of example, the United Kingdom allows librarians to make copies of articles in periodicals, but limits such copying to a single article per issue, and requires the patron to prove that the copy is for private noncommercial research or study. Canada, on the other hand, does not have the single-article restriction, but does limit the reproduction exception to articles published in scholarly, scientific, or technical journals. Canada also excludes works of fiction, poetry, etc. from the class of works that may be copied.

Making Digital Copies for Preservation and Replacement

Librarians are permitted, in certain circumstances, to make copies of library materials for their preservation or replacement. These circumstances are typically tightly regulated by local copyright statutes. Many countries permit copying as long as:

• the library owns the original work
• the work is publicly accessible
• the original is at risk for damage or deterioration, is in obsolete format, or cannot be viewed because of the conditions in which it must be kept.

The permitted reproduction is often limited to a small number of copies. If an appropriate copy is commercially available, the right to reproduce for preservation or replacement is typically limited. Further, copying is often limited to paper reproduction, and copies made in digital format typically may not be made available to the public outside of the library premises.

Creating Course Packs for Students

University librarians are sometimes asked to create “course packs.” Course packs are typically a collection of excerpts from journals, articles, book chapters, and so forth that a teacher assigns for students enrolled in a particular course.

In the United States, many universities used to assemble course packs without obtaining permission from the copyright holders of the individual articles, believing that such copying qualified for the “fair use” exception for academic purposes. However, court decisions in the 1990s held that the preparation and sale of such course packs by commercial "copy shops" did not constitute fair use. It is not certain that those decisions would apply to universities, but the lawyers advising most universities have taken a cautious approach. At their urging, most US universities have now adopted systems for obtaining licenses to all materials included in course packs.

It is possible that a country that, unlike the United States, relies upon a list of specific exceptions and limitations, rather than a general fair use doctrine, to set the limits of copyright protection may have a specific provision that authorizes the creation of course packs. If not, librarians in such a country must obtain a written license from the copyright holders in order to create course packs. To reduce the administrative burden of seeking permission from many different copyright holders, librarians may wish to contract with collective management organizations like those described in Module 5 . These private services who enter into affiliations with academic publishers and obtain blanket clearance licenses for the publisher’s entire catalog, or enter into agreements with a collective management organization representing publishers.

Adapting Materials for the Blind, Visually Impaired and other Reading Disabled Persons

In most countries, specific exemptions allow librarians to provide modified copies of works to serve the needs of visually impaired patrons. A more detailed discussion of the copyright exception for visually impaired persons can be found in Judith Sullivan’s report of the Fifteenth Session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, which is available here . This situation may change soon if a treaty currently being considered by WIPO is adopted.

Inter-Library Loans

The copyright statutes of some countries contain exceptions for inter-library loans. This enables a library to make a copy of a work for the purpose of lending it to a patron of another library. Sometimes the statutory exception for inter-library loan will require the library to pay a licensing fee in order to make the reproduction, the amount of which is typically determined by the government or a collecting society. In certain countries, such as Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore, a librarian must determine that the article or work is not commercially available before the inter-library loan exception can be invoked.

Similar to inter-library loan statutes are so-called “supply” statutes, which allow a library to make a copy of a work for another library, but do not require that the purpose of the copy be for the private use of a patron. Supply statutes vary among jurisdictions. Some countries (for example, Fiji) require that the librarian first attempt to purchase the work at market value. Others (for example, Antigua) allow such copying only when it is not practicable to purchase a copy. Still others (for example, Ireland) only allow such copying if it would not be reasonable to ask the copyright holder’s permission.

In some cases, a country may not have a specific statutory library exception. Yet libraries may still be entitled to engage in many of the activities described above, if those countries have a broader provision that would permit any citizen, which would include librarians and library patrons, to undertake these activities. This is true, for example, in Iraq and Namibia. Some countries limit their exceptions to a list of designated libraries; in other countries, the exceptions are available to all libraries that meet certain requirements, such as being open to the public and acting for non-commercial purposes.

Compulsory Licenses

In addition to the exceptions and limitations surveyed above, many countries limit the rights of copyright holders with so-called "compulsory licenses." Compulsory licenses are often seen as compromises between the economic interests of copyright holders and the public’s interest in using copyrighted material. For example, Article 13 of the Berne Convention gives countries the authority to impose compulsory licenses for the use of musical compositions. Examples of compulsory licenses existing in some countries include the right of public lending by libraries, and the right of private coping of audio recordings in exchange for a tax on blank CDs. This will be further discussed in Module 5: Managing Rights .

Back to the case study

Unfortunately, unless the compositions in Angela's collection have fallen into the public domain, there is no simple answer to Angela's question. Nadia would be obliged to review the details of the particular system of exceptions and limitations contained in her country's copyright law to ascertain, first, whether she would be permitted to make a digital copy of each piece of sheet music and, second, whether the library would be permitted to post the digital copy of it on the library's servers. It is more likely that the first of these activities would be permitted than that the second activity would be permitted, but neither issue could be definitively resolved without consulting the country's laws.

Additional Resources

In 2001, Siva Vaidhyanathan published Copyrights and Copywrongs: the Rise of Intellectual Property and How It Threatens Creativity . The thesis of this highly accessible book is well captured by its title. For an interview with Vaidhyanathan, in which he summarizes his argument, see Copyrights and Copywrongs((.link_red)) . For a similarly accessible study that takes a much more favorable view of the evolution of the rights and exceptions associated with copyright, see Paul Goldstein, Copyright's Highway: From Gutenberg to the Celestial Jukebox (2003) -- available only in print or via audio download .

The most comprehensive examination of the provisions of each country's copyright laws that provide flexibility to librarians is Kenneth Crews, Study on Copyright Limitations and Exceptions for Libraries and Archives((.link_green)) .

Another highly useful study is International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, Limitations and Exceptions to Copyright and Neighbouring Rights in the Digital Environment: An International Library Perspective .

Two helpful WIPO studies are WIPO Study on Copyright Limitations and Exceptions for the Visually Impaired and WIPO Study on Limitations and Exceptions of Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Environment .

Copyright Exceptions in the UK is just what it says.

For a highly accessible study of latitude that filmmakers (particularly in the United States) enjoy when quoting copyrighted material, see Pat Aufderheide and Peter Jaszi, Recut, Reframe, Recycle (Center for Social Media 2008).

The following judicial opinions explore and apply some of the principles discussed in this module:

Larrikin Music v. Men at Work((.link_red)) (Australia 2010) (right of reproduction)

Case C-5/08, Infopaq International A/S v. Danske Dagblades Forening((.link_red)) (right of reproduction)

Gilham v. R, Court of Appeal of England and Wales (Court of Appeal of England and Wales), 2009((.link_green)) (right of reproduction)

J.K. Rowling v. RDR Books, 575 F.Supp.2d 513 (2009)((.link_green)) (derivative works)

Case C-306/05, Sociedad General de Autores y Editores de España (SGAE) v. Rafael Hoteles SA((.link_red)) (Meaning of Communication to the Public)

Case C-479/04, Laserdisken ApS v. Kulturministeriet((.link_red)) (Exhaustion)

Case C-245/00, Stichting ter Exploitatie van Naburige Rechten (SENA) v. Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS)((.link_red)) (Rental Rights – Equitable Remuneration)

Cour de cassation (1re ch. civ.), 28 février 2006, Studio Canal, Universal Pictures video France et SEV c/ S. Perquin et Ufc que Choisir((.link_green)) (Private Copies – Technological Protections)

Sweden: B 13301-06, 17 April 2009 (Pirate Bay Case)((.link_red)) (Meaning of Making Available)

Buffet v. Fersig, Judgment of May 30, 1962, Cour d'appel, Paris, 1962 Recueil Dalloz [D. Jur.] 570 (described in Merryman, The Refrigerator of Bernard Buffet , 27 Hastings L.J. 1023 (1976)) (moral rights)

Campbell v. Acuff Rose Music, Inc., 510 U.S. 569 (1994)((.link_red)) (fair use)

Germany: Bundesverfassungsgericht, Urteil vom 17. Februar 1998, - 1 BvF 1/97((.link_green)) (Right to Short Reporting)

Assignment and discussion questions

1. Are the restrictions that copyright law places on librarians in your country too strict, too loose or the right balance? Use the references in the list of Additional Resources (below) to locate the list of library exceptions applicable in your own country. Summarize the principal exceptions.

2. Imagine and describe a project that you would like to develop at your library but that would not be permitted by the copyright laws in your country. Draft an amendment to your national copyright statute that would cover this use.

Comment upon some of the amendment proposals of your colleagues.

Contributors

This module was created by Emily Cox . It was then edited by a team including Sebastian Diaz , William Fisher , Urs Gasser , Adam Holland , Kimberley Isbell , Peter Jaszi , Colin Maclay , Andrew Moshirnia , and Chris Peterson .

Introduction

Course Materials:

• Module 1: Copyright and the Public Domain
• Module 2: The International Framework
• Module 3: The Scope of Copyright Law
• Module 5: Managing Rights
• Module 6: Creative Approaches and Alternatives
• Module 7: Enforcement
• Module 8: Traditional Knowledge
• Module 9: Activism

The Rotisserie

Navigation menu

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

Copyrightlaws.com: Copyright courses and education in plain English

Copyrightlaws.com is the place for copyright education. Online eTutorials and Certificate programs to demystify copyright law.

• Certificate Programs
• Join Our List

8 January 2023

Moral Rights in U.S. Copyright Law

Moral rights in U.S. copyright law benefit authors or creators of select copyright-protected materials: certain works of visual art. The purpose of moral rights is to attribute the author of a work and protect their reputation.

Economic rights (such as the rights of reproduction and public performance), which are more commonly understood than moral rights, provide creators with control over their copyright-protected materials and a way to earn compensation from exploiting their works.

We're here to help if you're interested in more in-depth information about economic rights, moral rights, and copyright law in general in the U.S.

Moral Rights in International Copyright Law

Moral rights originate from the French droit moral and are often described as being personal to the author or creator of a work.

Moral rights have a long history in international copyright law. Article 6bis of the leading international copyright treaty, the Berne Convention , states:

(1) Independently of the author’s economic rights, and even after the transfer of the said rights, the author shall have the right to claim authorship of the work and to object to any distortion, mutilation or other modification of, or other derogatory action in relation to, the said work, which would be prejudicial to his honor or reputation.

The 181 Berne member states, including the U.S., must meet the minimum standards set out in Berne, including those for moral rights. Thus, each Berne member state must provide for at least the moral rights of paternity and integrity. Countries are free to go beyond these minimum moral rights and provide further rights, such as the right of association, or the right to withdraw permission to use a work.

Interesting Facts About Moral Rights

Some facts you should know about moral rights:

• In some countries, authors may waive their moral rights (e.g., Canada) whereas in other countries (e.g., France) they may not.
• The duration of moral rights varies from country to country. In the U.S., moral rights expire upon the death of the author, in Canada they generally last 70 years after the author's death, and in France they are perpetual.

Right of Paternity

The right of paternity refers to the author’s right to have their name on a work, to use a pseudonym and to remain anonymous. For example, an author has the right to have their name on the cover of their book (this is true even if they've assigned copyright to someone else). This right is often referred to as the right of attribution.

Right of Integrity

The second component of moral rights, as set out in Berne, is the right of integrity. This is the right of the author to object to any changes to their work that may harm their reputation as an author. Witness testimony about this harm would determine this question of fact in a courtroom.

For example, manipulating a scanned photograph may be a violation of moral rights (the right of integrity), if prejudicial to the honor or reputation of the author of the photograph.

The U.S. amended its Copyright Act to include moral rights when it joined the Berne Convention in 1989. However, while the moral rights set out in Berne are intended to apply to all types of copyright-protected works, the U.S. took a narrower interpretation of the moral rights requirements. In some circles, there is controversy as to whether the U.S. is in fact complying with Berne.

Professor Roberta Rosenthal Kwall states in her book, The Soul of Creativity , that "the United States is out of step with global norms by not recognizing more substantial authors' rights."

In the U.S., various federal and state laws arguably protect moral rights, in addition to explicit protection through an amendment to the U.S. Copyright Act by the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA) of 1990. Some states, such as New York and California, also have moral rights protection for visual artists.

U.S. Moral Rights Apply to Specific Works of Visual Art

Unlike Berne, VARA protects only one group of authors: visual artists, more accurately those who create “works of visual art.” These works include:

• Photographs, existing in a single copy or a limited edition of 200 or fewer signed and numbered copies

VARA explicitly excludes:

• Motion pictures
• Electronic publications
• Applied art

VARA gives visual artists the right to claim authorship in their work, and to prevent the use of their name in association with a work. In addition, VARA grants artists the right to prevent the intentional distortion, mutilation or other objectionable modification of their works. Artists who qualify for federal moral rights protection can also prevent any destruction of certain works.

Read the moral rights provisions in 17 U.S. Code S 106A, Rights of certain authors to attribution and integrity .

U.S. Moral Rights Waivers and Duration

Under VARA, moral rights are not transferable by license or assignment, but are waivable (in writing). The rights end with the life of the author (unlike economic rights, which endure for 70 years after the death of the author).

Study on U.S. Moral Rights

On 23 January 2017, the United States Copyright Office announced its study on U.S. moral rights for authors. The study focused on the moral rights of attribution and integrity. It examined how the U.S. Copyright Act and other federal and state laws protect these moral rights and whether it's necessary to provide further moral rights protection in the U.S.

On 23 April 2019, the USCO published its report on moral rights. See Authors, Attribution, and Integrity: Examining Moral Rights in the United States . As stated in the report's executive summary, moral rights has not been the topic of major policy focus and this Report is the first comprehensive review in three decades of the moral rights regime in the U.S.

The report calls the U.S. moral rights landscape "complex" and a "patchwork" of protection. It concludes that the patchwork of the Copyright Act's derivative work right, state moral rights laws and contract law is "generally working well and should not be changed." At the current time, "there is no need for the creation of a blanket moral rights statute."

It then goes on to discuss improvements to the moral rights regime in the U.S. and provides a roadmap for doing so. For an interesting regime of moral rights protection, read about Canada's moral rights that include attribution, integrity and association.

You may also be interested in our article Droit de Suite (right to follow), a unique right for artists that exists in some countries' copyright law, ensures that the creator of an artistic work, or their heirs, receives part of the resale value of a physical work of art.

For an in-depth understanding of copyright principles, plus hands-on application of copyright law, see our fully online  Copyright Leadership Certificate  program.

About Copyrightlaws.com

Copyright Courses

Kluwer Copyright Blog

Assignment of rights to exercise economic rights to works created under employment: a blessing in disguise.

It’s been almost two years since the Slovak legislator introduced an improved legal framework by adoption of a completely new Slovak Copyright Act. The main aim of the legislation was to introduce modern and flexible legal rules ensuring, on the one hand, that authors have more effective means to control the use of their works (e.g. new rules on rights management) and, on the other hand, that the overall copyright framework is more closely aligned with the requirements of the Internet economy (e.g. exceptions and limitations). Commentators have described their feelings about the new framework as mixed at the very least. In our opinion, not all is doomed and the new Copyright Act has managed to correct at least some of the flaws of the previous framework.

In particular, in the area of works created in the course of an employment relationship, the Slovak Copyright Act has reintroduced an interesting contractual tool enabling employers to transfer economic rights to works created under employment, by way of assignment of the right to exercise economic rights. This is interesting for several reasons. First, the Slovak copyright law is characterised by a dualist system of moral and economic rights, both of which are inalienable (non-transferable) and remain with the author throughout his lifetime. Second, the Slovak Republic has consistently followed the civil law tradition of author’s rights and the natural right strain by emphasising the importance of the author and by viewing works as extensions of the author’s personality.

Admittedly, as in many civil law countries, in the area of works created under employment Slovakia too has developed an exception to the general rule pursuant to which the author is the first holder of any author’s rights (owner of copyright). In this regard, at the core of the framework has always been a rule stipulating that the employer has the exclusive right to exercise any and all economic rights to works made under employment. European legislators should also be familiar with this exception as it mirrors the regime of the Software Directive under which where a computer program is created by an employee in the execution of her duties or following the instructions given by her employer, the employer shall be exclusively entitled to exercise all economic rights in the program so created, unless otherwise provided by contract.

In addition to the exception from the rule that moral and economic rights are always vested with the author, the previous legal framework contained a rule stipulating that the employer may only assign the right to exercise economic rights to others with the consent of the author-employee. Due to the way the rule was drafted (consent requirement), the employers could not reap the benefits of this tool to the fullest extent. For employers, the requirement to obtain consent caused problems on several fronts. For example, if the employer failed to include a clause in the employment agreement under which the employee grants consent to the right to assign the right to exercise economic rights, and at the time of the assignment the employee no longer worked with the employer or unreasonably withheld consent, the employer was blocked from exercising his right to assign. To address these situations, the Slovak legislator has reintroduced the rule by drafting the right without the requirement to obtain prior consent of the author-employee.

In our view, the ability to assign the right to exercise economic rights in a work to another person in countries that normally do not afford assignment or transfer of copyright is a useful contractual tool, not only for employers but also for businesses and individuals (as potential assignees) to which these employers provide services. For example, where assignment is possible, the parties do not have to spend valuable time and incur additional costs by negotiating an extensive licence agreement which in the end still implies reliance of the licensee on the licensor. Since by exercising the right to assign the employer completely forgoes the right to exercise economic rights to a work thus created and loses the ability to license the work further, it assures the potential assignee that she will remain undisturbed in further licensing the right to use the work to others. In the end, it is the assignee who invested in the creation of a work by procuring services from the employer.

Another advantage of the new legal rules is that the new Copyright Act contains a legal presumption that where the employer exercises economic rights of the author-employee to a work created for the employer, the author is deemed to have consented to the exercise of some of her moral rights. These moral rights include, for example, the right of divulgation, the right of indication on the work of the name or business name of the employer and the right to completion, alteration or other interference with the work. In the absence of these rights, the author could theoretically object to the fact that the employer breached her moral rights by altering the work. Such objection would have a direct impact on the effectiveness of the right to exercise economic rights. With regard to moral rights, the new legal regime is not clear on whether the assignment of the right to exercise economic rights also covers the assignment of the above moral rights.

Understandably, the ability to exercise economic rights to works is in great demand, especially in creative and technology industries. This is all the more true in countries which do not provide a legal basis for a transfer of rights to works. In our view, the assignment of rights grants businesses which finance the development of works (such as software) a much stronger form of control over further exploitation of the final product, at least as compared to the position under a mere licence negotiated with the employer (as software developer). Despite the fact that the rule under which any author would be able to transfer his rights to others did not survive the legislative process leading to the final wording of the new Copyright Act, we welcome the compromise reached by the stakeholders, at least on the ability to assign the right to exercise economic rights for works created under employment. It remains to be seen whether the renewed rule opens the Pandora’s Box of employee remuneration.

To make sure you do not miss out on posts from the Kluwer Copyright Blog, please subscribe to the blog  here.

_____________________________

To make sure you do not miss out on regular updates from the Kluwer Copyright Blog, please subscribe here .

Kluwer IP Law

The 2022 Future Ready Lawyer survey showed that 79% of lawyers think that the importance of legal technology will increase for next year. With Kluwer IP Law you can navigate the increasingly global practice of IP law with specialized, local and cross-border information and tools from every preferred location. Are you, as an IP professional, ready for the future? Learn how Kluwer IP Law can support you.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Assignment of the Author’s Economic Rights

The author is the person creating the work and automatically becomes the owner of the economic rights on the work by the creation thereof. If the author does not have the resources to solely exercise the economic rights on the work, s/he may apply two different methods to benefit from the economic rights as regulated under Intellectual and Artistic Works Act numbered 5846 (“IAWC”). These methods assign the economic rights and assign the authority to exercise the economic rights; in other words, granting licenses for economic rights.

Assignment and License

The author has six economic rights, which are the right of adaptation, right of reproduction, right of distribution, right of performance, right to communicate a work to the public by devices enabling the transmission of signs, sounds and/or images, and right to payment of the sale of share proceeds, and pursue the same as designated under Articles 21 – 25 and 45 of the IAWC. If the author assigns an economic right, the assigned economic right leaves the assets of the author and becomes a value within the assets of the right holder who assigned the economic right. The assignee right holder becomes the owner of all rights attached to the assigned economic right, including the right to initiate an action. On the other hand, if the author grants a license on the economic right, such economic right remains under the assets of the licensor author. The licensee right holder only has the right to use and benefit from the licensed economic right. [1]

Assignment Agreement

Economic rights are assigned through a written assignment agreement. The rights to be assigned should be explicitly designated under the assignment agreement. Requirements of written form and explicit designation of the assigned economic rights are validity conditions; therefore, clauses, such as “all economic rights are assigned,” or “the right to reproduction etc. are assigned,” will not be deemed valid as per Article 52 of the IAWC. [2]

Economic rights may be assigned on a limited or unlimited basis with respect to location and duration. Economic rights may also be assigned with or without the requirement to pay any consideration for the assignment. Additionally, economic rights may be assigned to different persons by limiting the scope of the right. For instance, a photographer may assign the right of reproduction and right of distribution of his/her photographs only to be displayed within a certain catalogue. In this case, the assignee right holder may not use these photographs in any other environment, such as written press or the internet, except such catalogue as referred to herein.

The assignee right holder may not assign the economic rights to third parties without obtaining the written consent of the author or his/her heirs, unless the right to assign to third parties is set forth under the assignment agreement (IAWC Article 49/1). The reason why the consent of the author is required is to establish the connection with the author. The work is not severed, and the control of the author over the use of the work is established. [3]

License Agreement

The author may grant a license to exercise economic rights on the work without assigning economic rights (IAWC Article 48/2). Upon granting a license to exercise an economic right, such licensed economic right remains within the assets of the author (or the right holder), and the licensee will only be entitled to exercise such economic right.

The law regulates two different types of licenses, those being exclusive or non-exclusive license. A license is non-exclusive if it does not prohibit the holder of the economic right to grant the same license to others and is exclusive if it is granted to only one person. In the case of an exclusive license, unless otherwise determined, even the author (or the economic right holder) may not exercise such right. Unless to the contrary can be deduced from the law or agreement, all licenses are deemed to be non-exclusive. The provisions on usufructuary leases will apply to non-exclusive licenses, and those on usufruct leases shall apply to exclusive licenses. (IAWC Article 56)

The license to exercise an economic right is granted through a written license agreement in which all rights to license are explicitly specified. In the same manner, and with respect to assignment agreements, written form is a validity condition. Any vague expressions regarding licensed economic rights will be deemed invalid. The license right may also be assigned on a limited or unlimited basis with respect to location, duration and scope. Additionally, the license may be granted with or without the requirement to pay any consideration. For instance, an exclusive license on the right to reproduce the musical work of a symphony may be granted to a publishing house, a non-exclusive license on the right to perform the symphony may be granted to a concert organizer, and non-exclusive licenses on the right to communicate the work to the public may be granted to two different TV channels. [4]

Granting an exclusive license on an economic right does not create an obstacle for the assignment of such economic right, because the licensed economic right remains within the assets of the right holder; however, the rights of the exclusive licensee will be protected against the new right holder. [5]

The provision prohibiting the assignment of the assigned economic right by the right holder to third parties without obtaining the written consent of the author (or his/her heirs) also applies to license agreements. Accordingly, the exclusive or non-exclusive licensee may not grant a license to third parties without obtaining the written consent of the author (or his/her heirs), unless the right to grant a license to third parties is set forth under the license agreement (IAWC Article 49/1).

Acts of Disposal on Incomplete Works

Only the completed works may be the subject of an assignment or license agreement (i.e. acts of disposal), and assignment or license agreements with regard to incomplete works are invalid. However, commitments regarding the acts of disposal are valid even if they are made prior to the creation of the work [6]  (IAWC Article 48/3, 50/1).

In the case of a commitment regarding the acts of disposal, assigning or granting a license on the economic rights of the work following the completion of the work constitutes the subject matter of the commitment. Thus, the right holder may request the assignment or license of the economic right on the work once the work is created. For instance, an artist may undertake to grant a gallery with a license, or assigning the right of performance, on the painting s/he is then painting by executing a contract with the gallery. Once the work is completed, the gallery is entitled to request the transfer of the economic right, for which the artist and gallery must conclude a second agreement, whereby the terms and provisions of the assignment and/or license are indicated.

As assignment and license agreements, commitments regarding the acts of disposal on incomplete works are also concluded in writing, and the economic rights that are subject to a commitment should be explicitly indicated thereby. A written form requirement is a validity condition. [7]

Although concluding an assignment and license agreement on the economic rights of an incomplete work is deemed invalid by law, such assignment and license agreements are frequently encountered in practice in Turkey, due to the impact of Anglo-Saxon law. In the events where the economic rights on the incomplete work are assigned or licensed, the Supreme Court, by considering the facts of the concrete cases, has either resolved that such assignment or license agreement is deemed to be considered as a commitment to assign or grant license on the incomplete work within the scope of Article 50/1 of the IAWC, or is deemed to be invalid due to Article 48/3 of the IAWC. Therefore, if the economic rights of the incomplete works are to be assigned or licensed, such agreement should be drafted as an undertaking to assign or license, rather than an assignment or license agreement. Furthermore, as the economic rights will not be automatically transferred to the right holder during the commitment period, a second agreement on the assignment or license should be executed after the work is created.

Right of Rescission

If the acquirer of an economic right or a license exercises his/her rights and authorities, insufficiently, within the agreed period, or where no period is determined within a reasonable time, and if thereby the author’s interests are significantly violated, the author may rescind the agreement (IAWC Article 58). The right to rescind is a formative right, and the economic right returns to the author by exercising the right to rescind. [8]

In order for an author to exercise the right to rescind, the statutory requirements as to form must be fulfilled. Accordingly, the author wishing to exercise the right to rescind must grant the other party, upon notifying him/her through a notary public, a period of time adequate to exercise its contractual rights. The notice issued by the notary public gives effect to the rescission of the agreement, if the expiration date for the granted period is exceeded, or if it is not necessary to grant such period. The granting of such a period is not necessary, if it is impossible for the other party to exercise such right, or if he/she refuses to exercise it, or if the granting of such period would significantly jeopardize the author’s interests.

The other party does not have to be at fault in order for the author to exercise the right to rescind. However, if the other party is at fault, then the author may request compensation in accordance with the provisions of Turkish Code of Obligations numbered 6098. On the other hand, if fault is attributable to the author, he/she may not exercise the right to rescind.

The right of rescission may not be waived in advance, and limitations precluding its exercise for more than two years are null and void (IAWC Article 58/5). Action of objection may be pursued in the four weeks following the service of the rescission notification. If no action of objection is initiated within the four weeks, it should be concluded that the rescission was just. [9]

When the author does not have the financial resources to benefit from the economic rights on his/her work, he/she may assign or grant a license on the economic rights to third parties. Economic rights may be assigned or licensed on a limited or unlimited basis in terms of location, duration and scope. Also, there is no legal requirement to pay any consideration for the assignment or license. Assignment or license agreements regarding incomplete works are deemed invalid. However, an undertaking may be given for the assignment or licensing of the economic rights to have arisen from the creation of the work. If the author assigns or grants a license on the economic rights, and the assignee or licensee fails to exercise these economic rights as designated under the agreement during the term of the agreement and, thus, the interests of the author are materially violated, the author may use the statutory right of rescission to terminate the assignment or license agreement.

[1]   Bozbel, Savaş:  Fikri Mülkiyet Hukuku. On İki Levha Yayıncılık, 2015, p. 198-199.

[2]   Tekinalp, Ünal:  Fikir ve Sanat Eserleri Hukuku, Vedat Kitapçılık, 2012, p. 232.

[3]   Karahan, Sami; Suluk, Cahit; Saraç, Tahir; Nal, Temel : Fikri Mülkiyet Hukukunun Esasları, Seçkin Yayıncılık, 2012, p. 117.

[4]   Tekinalp:  p. 232.

[5]   Karahan; Suluk; Saraç; Nal : p. 117.

[6]  Commitments regarding the acts of disposal may also be given if the work is completed.

[7]   Tekinalp:  p. 232.

[8]   Bozbel:  p. 220.

[9]   Bozbel:  p. 220.

All rights of this article are reserved. This article may not be used, reproduced, copied, published, distributed, or otherwise disseminated without quotation or Erdem & Erdem Law Firm's written consent. Any content created without citing the resource or Erdem & Erdem Law Firm’s written consent is regularly tracked, and legal action will be taken in case of violation.

Other Contents

Today, the globalization of economic activities leads to the transfer of numerous personal data internationally during the daily operations of companies. Therefore, like many national and international data legislations, Law No. 6698 on the Protection of Personal Data (“PDPL” or “Law”) includes protective...

The relationship between the author and the product of their creative activity is protected by moral rights. The moral rights of the author set out in the Intellectual and Artistic Works Act numbered 5846 (“IAWA”) include the authority to disclose the work to the public, the authority to designate the name...

The Court of Cassation has evaluated the criteria related to the similarity of the trademark in all of these decisions, and while showing how the criteria will be applied, it has also helped to determine the boundaries of the term “likelihood of confusion”. In this article, four different 2022 decisions...

The right to property, which is one of the concepts and values underlying the liberal economic and legal system, regulates the ownership relationship between the person and goods. The scope of the term “goods,” which is the subject of the concept of property...

For creative legal solutions, please contact us.

• Practical Law

Assignment of Intellectual Property Rights: Overview (International)

Practical law uk practice note overview w-020-0516  (approx. 12 pages), get full access to this document with a free trial.

Try free and see for yourself how Practical Law resources can improve productivity, efficiency and response times.

About Practical Law

This document is from Thomson Reuters Practical Law, the legal know-how that goes beyond primary law and traditional legal research to give lawyers a better starting point. We provide standard documents, checklists, legal updates, how-to guides, and more.

650+ full-time experienced lawyer editors globally create and maintain timely, reliable and accurate resources across all major practice areas.

83% of customers are highly satisfied with Practical Law and would recommend to a colleague.

81% of customers agree that Practical Law saves them time.

• International

The Definition of Economic Rights and Their Functions

• First Online: 12 December 2023

Cite this chapter

• Carmine Gorga   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8467-5528 2  

Part of the book series: Springer Studies in Alternative Economics ((SSAE))

36 Accesses

Antonio Genovesi was the first academic in the world to teach economics, an event that took place at the University of Naples in 1754. Being in the tradition of Giambattista Vico, he gave much importance to the “social” aspects of life and opened a path for Emanuele Gianturco, an important Italian legislator of the nineteenth century, who tried to do something that, totally unawares at first, is being accomplished here through the definition of economic rights. Gianturco tried to build a “diritto sociale-privato” (a social-private jurisprudence). From the jurisprudence of private rights, we pass to the jurisprudence of social rights and responsibilities: social rights which, once codified in the laws of the land, become public rights and responsibilities. This effort is being continued in Naples at the Scuola di Economia Civile (Civil Economy School). The issue is that important. Intellectually, it concerns a question left open by Kant, the question of the definition and content of “public” rights. This is an issue that starts with being legal and ends up being eminently economic and political. This is an issue that, once settled, puts a stop to the interminable diatribe between Capitalists and Socialists on how to build a civilized society. Economic rights and economic responsibilities (ERs & ERs) perform many functions. In this chapter we will see how they offer much concreteness both to the practice of jurisprudence and the theory of justice.

Adapted from Gorga ( 1999 , 2008 ).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Durable hardcover edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

In the next chapters we will observe more functions of ERs&RSs. The fundamental function of economic rights and responsibilities in economic policy is to call for four marginal changes in our fiscal, labor, monetary, and industrial policies. Thereafter we will look at the functions that ERs&RSs perform in sociology and political science.

Ryan ([ 1916 ] 1942 : 249–302). The historic emphasis there is on the living wage.

Finn, Daniel Rush. 1995. Catholic Social Thought on Property: An Urgent Need for Extension and Renewal. Paper presented at the Conference on “The Legacy of Msgr. John A. Ryan” . University of Saint Thomas.

Google Scholar  

Gewirth, Alan. 1985. Economic Justice: Concepts and Criteria. In Economic Justice: Private Rights and Public Responsibilities , ed. by K. Kipnis and D.T. Meyers. Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Allanheld.

Gorga, Carmine. 1982. “The Revised Keynes’ Model” (An Abstract). Atlantic Economic Journal 10 (3): 52.

Gorga, Carmine. 1991. Bold New Directions in Politics and Economics. The Human Economy Newsletter 12 (1): 3–6, 12. Economics, “The Human Economy” Newsletter, 1991, archives box: 01, Folder: 28. College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Collection, 1961–2022, MSU Archives Collection 029. Minnesota State University, Mankato University Archives.

Gorga, Carmine. 1994. Four Economic Rights: Social Renewal Through Economic Justice for All. Social Justice Review 85 (1–2): 3–6. Available at http://www.pelicanweb.org/solisustv11n03page4.html . Accessed July 25, 2023.

Gorga, Carmine. 1999. Toward the Definition of Economic Rights. The Journal of Markets and Morality , Spring 1999 II (1): 88–101.

Gorga, Carmine. 2008. Concordian Economics: Tools to Return Relevance to Economics. Forum for Social Economics . Reprinted, with a New Introduction. Mother Pelican: A Journal of Solidarity and Sustainability 11 (2). Available at http://www.pelicanweb.org/solisustv11n02page4.html . Accessed July 25, 2023.

Gorga, Carmine, and Norman G. Kurland. 1987. The Productivity Standard: A True Golden Standard. In Every Worker an Owner: A Revolutionary Free Enterprise Challenge to Marxism , ed. by D.M. Kurland. Washington, DC: Center for Economic and Social Justice.

Gorga, Carmine, and Stuart B. Weeks. 1997. Fisheries Renewal: A Renewal of the Soul of Business. Catholic Social Science Review 2: 145–161.

Article   Google Scholar  

Holmes, Oliver Wendell. 1962. Uncollected Letters. In The Wisdom of the Supreme Court , ed. by Percival E. Jackson. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.

John Paul II. 1991. Centesimus Annus . [Encyclical Letter on the Hundredth Anniversary of Rerum Novarum]. The Holy See, May 1. Available at https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_01051991_centesimus-annus.html . Accessed July 25, 2023.

Kant, Immanuel. [1796] 1959. Philosophy of Law. In The Great Legal Philosophers: Selected Readings in Jurisprudence , ed. by Clarence Morris. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Kelso, Louis O., and Mortimer Adler. 1958. The Capitalist Manifesto . New York: Random House.

Kelso, Louis O., and Patricia Hetter. 1967. Two-Factor Theory: The Economics of Reality . New York: Vintage Books.

Martin, Rex. 1985. Rawls and Rights . Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press.

Mazzini, Giuseppe. 1862. The Duties of Man . London: Chapman and Hall.

Nozick, Robert. 1974. Anarchy, State, and Utopia . New York: Basic Books.

Rawls, John. 1971. A Theory of Justice . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Book   Google Scholar  

Ryan, John A. [1916] 1942. Distributive Justice: The Right and Wrong of Our Present Distribution of Wealth . New York: Macmillan and Company.

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

The Somist Institute, Gloucester, MA, USA

Carmine Gorga

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

We need an Economic Bill of Rights .

Martin Luther King, written in 1968 just before his assassination

We’ll never revitalize our market economy till … every single American is protected by an economic bill of rights .

Jerry Brown, “ We the People, Take Back America ”

Under a second Bill of Rights a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all - regardless, of station, rank, or creed .

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, State of the Union Message, Jan. 11, 1944

At the United Nations, the Pope urged the rich to show solidarity with the poor. His social teaching has emphasized that this moral commitment should not be done by dole that creates dependency, but by empowering the poor to become full participants in economic life .

George Weigel, President, Ethics and Public Policy Center.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Gorga, C. (2023). The Definition of Economic Rights and Their Functions. In: Concordian Economics, Vol. 1. Springer Studies in Alternative Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-47320-3_10

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-47320-3_10

Published : 12 December 2023

Publisher Name : Springer, Cham

Print ISBN : 978-3-031-47319-7

Online ISBN : 978-3-031-47320-3

eBook Packages : Economics and Finance Economics and Finance (R0)

Share this chapter

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

• Search Menu
• Sign in through your institution
• Advance articles
• Featured articles
• Virtual Issues
• Browse content in B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches
• Browse content in B4 - Economic Methodology
• B49 - Other
• Browse content in C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods
• Browse content in C0 - General
• C01 - Econometrics
• Browse content in C1 - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General
• C10 - General
• C11 - Bayesian Analysis: General
• C12 - Hypothesis Testing: General
• C13 - Estimation: General
• C14 - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General
• C15 - Statistical Simulation Methods: General
• Browse content in C2 - Single Equation Models; Single Variables
• C21 - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models; Quantile Regressions
• C22 - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes
• C23 - Panel Data Models; Spatio-temporal Models
• C26 - Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimation
• Browse content in C3 - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables
• C31 - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models; Quantile Regressions; Social Interaction Models
• C33 - Panel Data Models; Spatio-temporal Models
• C34 - Truncated and Censored Models; Switching Regression Models
• C35 - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions
• C36 - Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimation
• Browse content in C4 - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics
• C41 - Duration Analysis; Optimal Timing Strategies
• C44 - Operations Research; Statistical Decision Theory
• Browse content in C5 - Econometric Modeling
• C50 - General
• C51 - Model Construction and Estimation
• C52 - Model Evaluation, Validation, and Selection
• C53 - Forecasting and Prediction Methods; Simulation Methods
• C54 - Quantitative Policy Modeling
• C55 - Large Data Sets: Modeling and Analysis
• C57 - Econometrics of Games and Auctions
• Browse content in C6 - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling
• C61 - Optimization Techniques; Programming Models; Dynamic Analysis
• C62 - Existence and Stability Conditions of Equilibrium
• C63 - Computational Techniques; Simulation Modeling
• C67 - Input-Output Models
• C68 - Computable General Equilibrium Models
• Browse content in C7 - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory
• C70 - General
• C72 - Noncooperative Games
• C73 - Stochastic and Dynamic Games; Evolutionary Games; Repeated Games
• C78 - Bargaining Theory; Matching Theory
• Browse content in C8 - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs
• C83 - Survey Methods; Sampling Methods
• Browse content in C9 - Design of Experiments
• C90 - General
• C91 - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
• C92 - Laboratory, Group Behavior
• C93 - Field Experiments
• Browse content in D - Microeconomics
• Browse content in D0 - General
• D01 - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
• D02 - Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact
• D03 - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
• Browse content in D1 - Household Behavior and Family Economics
• D11 - Consumer Economics: Theory
• D12 - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
• D13 - Household Production and Intrahousehold Allocation
• D14 - Household Saving; Personal Finance
• D15 - Intertemporal Household Choice: Life Cycle Models and Saving
• D18 - Consumer Protection
• Browse content in D2 - Production and Organizations
• D21 - Firm Behavior: Theory
• D22 - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
• D23 - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
• D24 - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
• D25 - Intertemporal Firm Choice: Investment, Capacity, and Financing
• D29 - Other
• Browse content in D3 - Distribution
• D30 - General
• D31 - Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
• Browse content in D4 - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design
• D40 - General
• D41 - Perfect Competition
• D42 - Monopoly
• D43 - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
• D44 - Auctions
• D47 - Market Design
• Browse content in D5 - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium
• D50 - General
• D51 - Exchange and Production Economies
• D52 - Incomplete Markets
• D53 - Financial Markets
• D57 - Input-Output Tables and Analysis
• D58 - Computable and Other Applied General Equilibrium Models
• Browse content in D6 - Welfare Economics
• D60 - General
• D61 - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
• D62 - Externalities
• D63 - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
• D64 - Altruism; Philanthropy
• Browse content in D7 - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making
• D70 - General
• D71 - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
• D72 - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
• D73 - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
• D74 - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
• D78 - Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation and Implementation
• Browse content in D8 - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty
• D80 - General
• D81 - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
• D82 - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
• D83 - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
• D84 - Expectations; Speculations
• D85 - Network Formation and Analysis: Theory
• D86 - Economics of Contract: Theory
• Browse content in D9 - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics
• D90 - General
• D91 - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
• D92 - Intertemporal Firm Choice, Investment, Capacity, and Financing
• Browse content in E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics
• Browse content in E0 - General
• E03 - Behavioral Macroeconomics
• Browse content in E1 - General Aggregative Models
• E10 - General
• E12 - Keynes; Keynesian; Post-Keynesian
• E13 - Neoclassical
• E17 - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications
• Browse content in E2 - Consumption, Saving, Production, Investment, Labor Markets, and Informal Economy
• E20 - General
• E21 - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
• E22 - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
• E23 - Production
• E24 - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
• E25 - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution
• E26 - Informal Economy; Underground Economy
• E27 - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications
• Browse content in E3 - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles
• E30 - General
• E31 - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
• E32 - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
• E37 - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications
• Browse content in E4 - Money and Interest Rates
• E40 - General
• E41 - Demand for Money
• E42 - Monetary Systems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System; Payment Systems
• E43 - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
• E44 - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
• E49 - Other
• Browse content in E5 - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit
• E50 - General
• E51 - Money Supply; Credit; Money Multipliers
• E52 - Monetary Policy
• E58 - Central Banks and Their Policies
• Browse content in E6 - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook
• E60 - General
• E61 - Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination
• E62 - Fiscal Policy
• E65 - Studies of Particular Policy Episodes
• Browse content in E7 - Macro-Based Behavioral Economics
• E70 - General
• E71 - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on the Macro Economy
• Browse content in F - International Economics
• Browse content in F1 - Trade
• F10 - General
• F11 - Neoclassical Models of Trade
• F12 - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation
• F13 - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
• F14 - Empirical Studies of Trade
• F15 - Economic Integration
• F16 - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
• F17 - Trade Forecasting and Simulation
• F18 - Trade and Environment
• F19 - Other
• Browse content in F2 - International Factor Movements and International Business
• F20 - General
• F21 - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
• F22 - International Migration
• F23 - Multinational Firms; International Business
• Browse content in F3 - International Finance
• F30 - General
• F31 - Foreign Exchange
• F32 - Current Account Adjustment; Short-Term Capital Movements
• F33 - International Monetary Arrangements and Institutions
• F34 - International Lending and Debt Problems
• F36 - Financial Aspects of Economic Integration
• Browse content in F4 - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance
• F40 - General
• F41 - Open Economy Macroeconomics
• F42 - International Policy Coordination and Transmission
• F43 - Economic Growth of Open Economies
• F44 - International Business Cycles
• Browse content in F5 - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy
• F50 - General
• F53 - International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations
• Browse content in F6 - Economic Impacts of Globalization
• F60 - General
• F62 - Macroeconomic Impacts
• F63 - Economic Development
• F64 - Environment
• F65 - Finance
• Browse content in G - Financial Economics
• Browse content in G0 - General
• G01 - Financial Crises
• G02 - Behavioral Finance: Underlying Principles
• Browse content in G1 - General Financial Markets
• G10 - General
• G11 - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
• G12 - Asset Pricing; Trading volume; Bond Interest Rates
• G13 - Contingent Pricing; Futures Pricing
• G14 - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
• G15 - International Financial Markets
• G18 - Government Policy and Regulation
• Browse content in G2 - Financial Institutions and Services
• G20 - General
• G21 - Banks; Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
• G22 - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies
• G23 - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors
• G24 - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage; Ratings and Ratings Agencies
• G28 - Government Policy and Regulation
• Browse content in G3 - Corporate Finance and Governance
• G30 - General
• G31 - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies; Capacity
• G32 - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
• G33 - Bankruptcy; Liquidation
• G34 - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
• G38 - Government Policy and Regulation
• Browse content in G4 - Behavioral Finance
• G40 - General
• G41 - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making in Financial Markets
• Browse content in H - Public Economics
• Browse content in H0 - General
• H00 - General
• Browse content in H1 - Structure and Scope of Government
• H11 - Structure, Scope, and Performance of Government
• Browse content in H2 - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
• H20 - General
• H21 - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
• H23 - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
• H24 - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies; includes inheritance and gift taxes
• H25 - Business Taxes and Subsidies
• H26 - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
• Browse content in H3 - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents
• H30 - General
• H31 - Household
• Browse content in H4 - Publicly Provided Goods
• H41 - Public Goods
• Browse content in H5 - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies
• H50 - General
• H51 - Government Expenditures and Health
• H52 - Government Expenditures and Education
• H53 - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs
• H55 - Social Security and Public Pensions
• H56 - National Security and War
• Browse content in H6 - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt
• H60 - General
• H63 - Debt; Debt Management; Sovereign Debt
• Browse content in H7 - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations
• H71 - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
• H75 - State and Local Government: Health; Education; Welfare; Public Pensions
• Browse content in H8 - Miscellaneous Issues
• H81 - Governmental Loans; Loan Guarantees; Credits; Grants; Bailouts
• Browse content in I - Health, Education, and Welfare
• Browse content in I0 - General
• I00 - General
• Browse content in I1 - Health
• I10 - General
• I11 - Analysis of Health Care Markets
• I12 - Health Behavior
• I13 - Health Insurance, Public and Private
• I14 - Health and Inequality
• I15 - Health and Economic Development
• I18 - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
• Browse content in I2 - Education and Research Institutions
• I20 - General
• I21 - Analysis of Education
• I22 - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
• I23 - Higher Education; Research Institutions
• I24 - Education and Inequality
• I25 - Education and Economic Development
• I26 - Returns to Education
• I28 - Government Policy
• Browse content in I3 - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
• I30 - General
• I31 - General Welfare
• I32 - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
• I38 - Government Policy; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
• I39 - Other
• Browse content in J - Labor and Demographic Economics
• Browse content in J0 - General
• J00 - General
• J01 - Labor Economics: General
• J08 - Labor Economics Policies
• Browse content in J1 - Demographic Economics
• J10 - General
• J11 - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
• J12 - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
• J13 - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
• J14 - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
• J15 - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
• J16 - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
• J17 - Value of Life; Forgone Income
• Browse content in J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor
• J20 - General
• J21 - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
• J22 - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
• J23 - Labor Demand
• J24 - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
• Browse content in J3 - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs
• J30 - General
• J31 - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
• J32 - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions
• J33 - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods
• J38 - Public Policy
• Browse content in J4 - Particular Labor Markets
• J41 - Labor Contracts
• J42 - Monopsony; Segmented Labor Markets
• J44 - Professional Labor Markets; Occupational Licensing
• J47 - Coercive Labor Markets
• Browse content in J5 - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining
• J50 - General
• J52 - Dispute Resolution: Strikes, Arbitration, and Mediation; Collective Bargaining
• Browse content in J6 - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers
• J60 - General
• J61 - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
• J62 - Job, Occupational, and Intergenerational Mobility
• J63 - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
• J64 - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
• J65 - Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings
• J68 - Public Policy
• Browse content in J7 - Labor Discrimination
• J71 - Discrimination
• Browse content in J8 - Labor Standards: National and International
• J81 - Working Conditions
• J82 - Labor Force Composition
• J83 - Workers' Rights
• Browse content in K - Law and Economics
• Browse content in K0 - General
• K00 - General
• Browse content in K1 - Basic Areas of Law
• K14 - Criminal Law
• Browse content in K3 - Other Substantive Areas of Law
• K31 - Labor Law
• K33 - International Law
• K35 - Personal Bankruptcy Law
• Browse content in K4 - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior
• K40 - General
• K41 - Litigation Process
• K42 - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
• Browse content in L - Industrial Organization
• Browse content in L0 - General
• L00 - General
• Browse content in L1 - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance
• L10 - General
• L11 - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
• L12 - Monopoly; Monopolization Strategies
• L13 - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
• L14 - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation; Networks
• L15 - Information and Product Quality; Standardization and Compatibility
• Browse content in L2 - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior
• L20 - General
• L22 - Firm Organization and Market Structure
• L23 - Organization of Production
• L25 - Firm Performance: Size, Diversification, and Scope
• Browse content in L3 - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise
• L31 - Nonprofit Institutions; NGOs; Social Entrepreneurship
• Browse content in L4 - Antitrust Issues and Policies
• L41 - Monopolization; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices
• L42 - Vertical Restraints; Resale Price Maintenance; Quantity Discounts
• L43 - Legal Monopolies and Regulation or Deregulation
• Browse content in L5 - Regulation and Industrial Policy
• L50 - General
• L51 - Economics of Regulation
• Browse content in L6 - Industry Studies: Manufacturing
• L60 - General
• L62 - Automobiles; Other Transportation Equipment; Related Parts and Equipment
• L63 - Microelectronics; Computers; Communications Equipment
• Browse content in L7 - Industry Studies: Primary Products and Construction
• L71 - Mining, Extraction, and Refining: Hydrocarbon Fuels
• Browse content in L8 - Industry Studies: Services
• L81 - Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce
• L82 - Entertainment; Media
• L86 - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software
• Browse content in L9 - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities
• L93 - Air Transportation
• L94 - Electric Utilities
• L96 - Telecommunications
• Browse content in M - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics
• Browse content in M0 - General
• M00 - General
• Browse content in M1 - Business Administration
• M11 - Production Management
• M14 - Corporate Culture; Social Responsibility
• Browse content in M2 - Business Economics
• M21 - Business Economics
• Browse content in M3 - Marketing and Advertising
• M31 - Marketing
• M37 - Advertising
• Browse content in M5 - Personnel Economics
• M50 - General
• M51 - Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions
• M52 - Compensation and Compensation Methods and Their Effects
• M54 - Labor Management
• M55 - Labor Contracting Devices
• Browse content in N - Economic History
• Browse content in N1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations
• N10 - General, International, or Comparative
• N13 - Europe: Pre-1913
• Browse content in N2 - Financial Markets and Institutions
• N20 - General, International, or Comparative
• Browse content in N3 - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy
• N31 - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
• N32 - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
• N33 - Europe: Pre-1913
• N34 - Europe: 1913-
• Browse content in N4 - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation
• N42 - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
• N43 - Europe: Pre-1913
• N44 - Europe: 1913-
• N45 - Asia including Middle East
• Browse content in N9 - Regional and Urban History
• N90 - General, International, or Comparative
• N92 - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
• N94 - Europe: 1913-
• Browse content in O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth
• Browse content in O1 - Economic Development
• O10 - General
• O11 - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
• O12 - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
• O13 - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Other Primary Products
• O14 - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
• O15 - Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
• O16 - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
• O17 - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
• O18 - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
• Browse content in O2 - Development Planning and Policy
• O23 - Fiscal and Monetary Policy in Development
• Browse content in O3 - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights
• O30 - General
• O31 - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
• O32 - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
• O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
• O34 - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
• O38 - Government Policy
• Browse content in O4 - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity
• O40 - General
• O41 - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models
• O42 - Monetary Growth Models
• O43 - Institutions and Growth
• O44 - Environment and Growth
• O47 - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
• Browse content in O5 - Economywide Country Studies
• O51 - U.S.; Canada
• O55 - Africa
• Browse content in P - Economic Systems
• Browse content in P0 - General
• P00 - General
• Browse content in P1 - Capitalist Systems
• P16 - Political Economy
• Browse content in P2 - Socialist Systems and Transitional Economies
• P26 - Political Economy; Property Rights
• P4 - Other Economic Systems
• Browse content in Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics
• Browse content in Q1 - Agriculture
• Q15 - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment
• Q16 - R&D; Agricultural Technology; Biofuels; Agricultural Extension Services
• Browse content in Q3 - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation
• Q33 - Resource Booms
• Browse content in Q4 - Energy
• Q41 - Demand and Supply; Prices
• Q43 - Energy and the Macroeconomy
• Browse content in Q5 - Environmental Economics
• Q51 - Valuation of Environmental Effects
• Q52 - Pollution Control Adoption Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects
• Q53 - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
• Q54 - Climate; Natural Disasters; Global Warming
• Q55 - Technological Innovation
• Q56 - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
• Q58 - Government Policy
• Browse content in R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics
• Browse content in R1 - General Regional Economics
• R10 - General
• R11 - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
• R12 - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity
• R13 - General Equilibrium and Welfare Economic Analysis of Regional Economies
• R15 - Econometric and Input-Output Models; Other Models
• Browse content in R2 - Household Analysis
• R21 - Housing Demand
• R23 - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population; Neighborhood Characteristics
• Browse content in R3 - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location
• R31 - Housing Supply and Markets
• R33 - Nonagricultural and Nonresidential Real Estate Markets
• Browse content in R4 - Transportation Economics
• R41 - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise
• R48 - Government Pricing and Policy
• Browse content in R5 - Regional Government Analysis
• R51 - Finance in Urban and Rural Economies
• Browse content in Z - Other Special Topics
• Browse content in Z1 - Cultural Economics; Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology
• Z10 - General
• Z12 - Religion
• Z13 - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Social and Economic Stratification
• Author Guidelines
• Submission Site
• Open Access
• About The Review of Economic Studies
• Editorial Board
• Advertising and Corporate Services
• Self-Archiving Policy
• Dispatch Dates
• Journals on Oxford Academic
• Books on Oxford Academic

Article Contents

• < Previous

Resale Markets and the Assignment of Property Rights

• Article contents
• Figures & tables
• Supplementary Data

Philippe Jehiel, Benny Moldovanu, Resale Markets and the Assignment of Property Rights, The Review of Economic Studies , Volume 66, Issue 4, October 1999, Pages 971–991, https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-937X.00116

• Permissions Icon Permissions

The consumption of an indivisible good causes identity-dependent externalities to non-consumers. We analyse resale markets where the current owner designs the trading procedure, but cannot commit to future actions. We ask the following questions: (1) Does the identity of the initial owner matter for the determination of the final consumer? (2) Is the outcome always efficient? The major conclusion of our paper is that the irrelevance of the initial structure of property rights arises in resale processes even if there are transaction costs that hinder efficiency. This result complements the Coasian view where the irrelevance of the assignment of property rights is a consequence of efficiency.

Email alerts

Citing articles via.

• Recommend to your Library
• Journals Career Network

Affiliations

• Online ISSN 1467-937X
• Print ISSN 0034-6527
• Copyright © 2024 Review of Economic Studies Ltd
• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Institutional account management
• Rights and permissions
• Get help with access
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Assignment Of Rights Agreement

Jump to section, what is an assignment of rights agreement.

​​An assignment of rights agreement is a written document in which one party, the assignor, assigns to another party all or part of their rights under an existing contract. The most common example of this would be when someone wants to sell their shares of stock in a company.

When you buy shares from someone else (the seller), they agree to transfer them over and give up any control they had on that share. This way, another party can take ownership without going through the trouble of trying to buy the whole company themselves.

Common Sections in Assignment Of Rights Agreements

Below is a list of common sections included in Assignment Of Rights Agreements. These sections are linked to the below sample agreement for you to explore.

Assignment Of Rights Agreement Sample

Reference : Security Exchange Commission - Edgar Database, EX-99.(H)(7) 5 dex99h7.htm FORM OF ASSIGNMENT AGREEMENT , Viewed December 20, 2021, View Source on SEC .

Who Helps With Assignment Of Rights Agreements?

Lawyers with backgrounds working on assignment of rights agreements work with clients to help. Do you need help with an assignment of rights agreement?

Post a project  in ContractsCounsel's marketplace to get free bids from lawyers to draft, review, or negotiate assignment of rights agreements. All lawyers are vetted by our team and peer reviewed by our customers for you to explore before hiring.

ContractsCounsel is not a law firm, and this post should not be considered and does not contain legal advice. To ensure the information and advice in this post are correct, sufficient, and appropriate for your situation, please consult a licensed attorney. Also, using or accessing ContractsCounsel's site does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and ContractsCounsel.

Meet some of our Assignment Of Rights Agreement Lawyers

Agnes Mombrun Geter is the Founder and Managing Attorney of Mombrun Law, PLLC. She is an experienced attorney and is a member of the Florida Bar, New Jersey Bar, and the Pennsylvania Bar. The firm's practice focuses on Estate Planning, Business Law, and Debt Settlement including IRS Debt Relief. The firm's goal is to simplify the law and provide clients with the confidence and information necessary to make their decisions. The firm also provides project-based legal services to other attorneys and law firms, along with assisting as personal counsel and local counsel on legal matters.

Have over 40+ years of corporate and commercial law experience.

I am a business attorney with years of experience advising individual entrepreneurs and small businesses on issues ranging from entity selection/formation to employment law compliance, to intellectual property protection and exploitation. I often act as General Counsel for my clients fulfilling the legal function as part of a team of managers. I look forward to learning more about your business and how I may be of assistance.

Christopher R.

Corporate and transactional attorney in sixth year of practice. Focus areas include general corporate counsel, labor and employment law, business partnership matters, securities matters related to privately-held companies, and regulatory compliance in securities and finance matters.

Forest is a general practice lawyer. He provides legal advice regarding small business law, contracts, estates and trusts, administrative law, corporate governance and compliance. Forest practiced complex commercial litigation in Florida for eight years, representing clients such as Host Marriott, Kellogg School of Business, and Toyota. Since moving to Nashville in 2005, he has provided legal advice to clients forming new businesses, planning for the future, and seeking funding through the use of equity and/or debt in their businesses. This advice has included the selection of business type, assistance in drafting and editing their business plans and offering material, reviewing proposed term sheets, and conducting due diligence. Forest is a member of the Florida, Tennessee, and Texas Bars; in addition. Forest has held a Series 7, General Securities Representative Exam, Series 24, General Securities Principal, and Series 63, Uniform Securities Agent State Law.

CA, NY, and FL licensed attorney with nearly a decade of experience in intellectual property, data privacy, commercial contracts, and employment. I also have both the CIPP/US and CIPP/E privacy credentials. Basically, everything your business needs!

David H. Charlip, the principal of Charlip Law Group, LC, is one of only 101 Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyers in Miami-Dade, with over 40 years of litigation experience. Mr. Charlip is also one of only 136 Florida Civil Law Notaries. He is also a Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Civil Mediator and a Florida Supreme Court Approved Arbitrator. He has managed and litigated cases across the country. Mr. Charlip has advised businesses, drafted business formation and purchase and sale documents and litigated business disputes for over 40 years and is very familiar with all aspects of contractual relations.

Find the best lawyer for your project

Quick, user friendly and one of the better ways I've come across to get ahold of lawyers willing to take new clients.

How It Works

Post Your Project

Get Free Bids to Compare

Hire Your Lawyer

Business lawyers by top cities

• Austin Business Lawyers
• Boston Business Lawyers
• Chicago Business Lawyers
• Dallas Business Lawyers
• Denver Business Lawyers
• Houston Business Lawyers
• Los Angeles Business Lawyers
• New York Business Lawyers
• Phoenix Business Lawyers
• San Diego Business Lawyers
• Tampa Business Lawyers

Assignment Of Rights Agreement lawyers by city

• Austin Assignment Of Rights Agreement Lawyers
• Boston Assignment Of Rights Agreement Lawyers
• Chicago Assignment Of Rights Agreement Lawyers
• Dallas Assignment Of Rights Agreement Lawyers
• Denver Assignment Of Rights Agreement Lawyers
• Houston Assignment Of Rights Agreement Lawyers
• Los Angeles Assignment Of Rights Agreement Lawyers
• New York Assignment Of Rights Agreement Lawyers
• Phoenix Assignment Of Rights Agreement Lawyers
• San Diego Assignment Of Rights Agreement Lawyers
• Tampa Assignment Of Rights Agreement Lawyers

Contracts Counsel was incredibly helpful and easy to use. I submitted a project for a lawyer's help within a day I had received over 6 proposals from qualified lawyers. I submitted a bid that works best for my business and we went forward with the project.

I never knew how difficult it was to obtain representation or a lawyer, and ContractsCounsel was EXACTLY the type of service I was hoping for when I was in a pinch. Working with their service was efficient, effective and made me feel in control. Thank you so much and should I ever need attorney services down the road, I'll certainly be a repeat customer.

I got 5 bids within 24h of posting my project. I choose the person who provided the most detailed and relevant intro letter, highlighting their experience relevant to my project. I am very satisfied with the outcome and quality of the two agreements that were produced, they actually far exceed my expectations.

Want to speak to someone?

Get in touch below and we will schedule a time to connect!

Find lawyers and attorneys by city

Human Rights Assignments

Published: May 28, 2024 Contributor: Francesca Parente License: CC BY NC SA 4.0 license – Allows revisions and additions but forbids commercial use.

This assignment is adapted from a final exam assignment in an international human rights law class at a law school. The style of the assignment is what law students call a “hypo” – a hypothetical situation, based on a fact pattern, which they must then analyze from a legal perspective. It requires students to analyze a human rights situation in another state (based on information provided by the instructor), identify potential violations, and argue for potential venues where a case could be brought. All of these elements can be modified to fit course needs/student level, as discussed below.

Learning Objectives • Application of human rights law concepts to real-world situation • Critically assess venues for human rights petitions; formulate and defend a coherent argument • Practice thinking like a law student/lawyer

Potential Uses • Human rights class • International law class (if there is a human rights unit) • Introduction to international relations (on a human rights unit)

This resource contains: • Three example assignments (each with a report, instructions to students, and an appendix of human rights obligations for the state involved) • Specifications-based grading rubric • Instructions for how to make your own assignment using a different report and template for the appendix • Potential discussion questions for class

• Human Rights Assignment - Instructors Manual Link opens in a new tab.
• Human Rights Assignment - Examples Link opens in a new tab.
• Human Rights Assignment - DIY Instructions Link opens in a new tab.
• Human Rights Assignment - Grading Rubric Link opens in a new tab.
• Human Rights Assignment - Class Discussion Link opens in a new tab.
• Appendix - Blank Template Link opens in a new tab.
• Brazil - Institutions Link opens in a new tab.
• France - Unaccompanied Migrant Children Link opens in a new tab.
• South Africa - Legacies of Apartheid Link opens in a new tab.
• Appendix - Brazil Human Rights Treaties Link opens in a new tab.
• Appendix - France Human Rights Treaties Link opens in a new tab.
• Appendix - South Africa Human Rights Treaties Link opens in a new tab.
• De-Centering the U.S. in the Global Politics Classroom Resource Collection Link opens in a new tab.
• Was this resource helpful?

Resource Type

• Lecture materials
• Multimedia (audio, video, images)
• OER chapter
• OER Textbook
• Writing assignment

Course Topic

• African Politics
• Comparative Politics
• Global Politics
• Human Rights
• International Relations
• Research skills and information literacy

Course Level

• Introductory

Course Type

Peer reviewed.

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Linkedin

Search form

The Security Council can take action to maintain or restore international peace and security under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. Sanctions measures, under Article 41, encompass a broad range of enforcement options that do not involve the use of armed force. Since 1966, the Security Council has established 31 sanctions regimes, in Southern Rhodesia, South Africa, the Former Yugoslavia (2), Haiti (2), Angola, Liberia (3), Eritrea/Ethiopia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, Iran, Somalia/Eritrea, ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida, Iraq (2), Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Lebanon, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Libya (2), the Taliban, Guinea-Bissau, Central African Republic, Yemen, South Sudan and Mali.

Security Council sanctions have taken a number of different forms, in pursuit of a variety of goals. The measures have ranged from comprehensive economic and trade sanctions to more targeted measures such as arms embargoes, travel bans, and financial or commodity restrictions. The Security Council has applied sanctions to support peaceful transitions, deter non-constitutional changes, constrain terrorism, protect human rights and promote non-proliferation.

Sanctions do not operate, succeed or fail in a vacuum. The measures are most effective at maintaining or restoring international peace and security when applied as part of a comprehensive strategy encompassing peacekeeping, peacebuilding and peacemaking. Contrary to the assumption that sanctions are punitive, many regimes are designed to support governments and regions working towards peaceful transition. The Libyan and Guinea-Bissau sanctions regimes all exemplify this approach.

Today, there are 14 ongoing sanctions regimes which focus on supporting political settlement of conflicts, nuclear non-proliferation, and counter-terrorism. Each regime is administered by a sanctions committee chaired by a non-permanent member of the Security Council. There are 9 monitoring groups, teams and panels that support the work of 10 of the 14 sanctions committees.

The Council applies sanctions with ever-increasing cognisance of the rights of those targeted. In the 2005 World Summit declaration, the General Assembly called on the Security Council, with the support of the Secretary-General, to ensure that fair and clear procedures are in place for the imposition and lifting of sanctions measures. The establishment of a focal point for de-listing , and the Office of the Ombudsperson to the ISIL (Da'esh) & Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee are examples of this approach in practice.

• UN Social Media