Moral rights

Moral rights are personal rights of authors that exist alongside economic exploitation rights. They typically include the right to be recognised as author, to decide on first disclosure and to object to alterations or uses that harm the author’s personality interests. Swiss copyright law gives significant weight to these personal aspects, and they cannot be treated simply like ordinary transferable property rights. Contractual waivers or consents may be relevant, but their effect is limited by personality protection and interpretation. Moral rights are especially important in publishing, architecture, photography, film, software and commissioned creative work.