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ARTICLE · 01 NOVEMBER 2007

Artist Awarded First Damages For Moral Rights Infringements

Minter Ellison
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Professional designers in the building and construction industry have generally found comfort in the moral rights protections of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) (Act).

AustraliaIntellectual Property
Simon Ralton
Simon Ralton
Glen O'Connor
Glen O'Connor

Professional designers in the building and construction industry have generally found comfort in the moral rights protections of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) (Act). On the other hand owners, developers and tenants have treated the scope and application of moral rights with caution when managing the risk of moral rights claims. Not surprisingly, the first moral rights decision to be handed down by an Australian court in Meskenas v ACP Publishing Pty Ltd [2006] FMCA 1136, was an anticipated test of the Act.

In this decision artist, Vladas Meskenas, successfully sued the publisher of Woman's Day magazine for infringements of his right of attribution and rights not to have authorship falsely attributed. The infringements related to a photograph of Princess Mary next to a portrait which appeared in Woman's Day with a caption that read:

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