The Catalogue of the Author's Moral Rights
Article 17 of the Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights sets out the author's personal non-property rights in detail. The author is entitled to be recognized as the author of the work and to demand such recognition on every copy or in any form of use — the right of authorship. The author may indicate a pseudonym instead of the name, demand such indication, and decline any mention of the name — the right to the name. Only the author decides when, where and in what form to make public the fact of the work's creation. The author may permit other persons to introduce changes into the work itself, its title or the author's name, and may object to changes made without consent — the right of integrity. The author is entitled to protect the work against any distortion or other violation that may harm the author's honour, dignity or business reputation. Finally, the author may demand the cessation of use of the work — the withdrawal right, which does not extend to works made in the course of employment. Together these rights form the personality core of copyright: they attach to the author as creator, not to the work as commodity.
The Withdrawal Right and Its Financial Consequences
The withdrawal right is the only one in the catalogue whose exercise the law expressly places at the author's expense. The author must compensate the user of the work for the damage caused, lost profits included, and must publicly declare the withdrawal. The author may also, at his or her own expense, withdraw from civil circulation copies prepared earlier for sale, rental or other transfer of ownership. This mechanism allows the author to reconsider the work's presence in the market at the price of compensating the injured party — and precisely for that reason the withdrawal right does not extend to works made in the course of employment, where the commissioning party's interests counterbalance the author's creative freedom. An author contemplating withdrawal should therefore weigh both the compensation exposure and the public declaration that the law requires as an inseparable element of the act.
Inalienability, Inheritance and Protection After Death
Article 17 treats the moral rights independently of the author's economic rights: they remain with the author even where the economic rights are assigned, and their alienation during the author's lifetime is impermissible. Article 35 builds the succession regime for these rights: the rights of authorship, of the name and of the integrity of the work are not transmissible by inheritance, but the heirs are entitled to protect them, and that competence is not limited in time. The economic rights pass to the heirs within the term of the copyright, unless the will provides otherwise. The author may designate a person who will protect these rights after death, and where heirs do not exist or exercise protection improperly, protection is carried out by the National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia, Sakpatent. A contract that would strip the author of moral rights is therefore incompatible with the law — and protection continues after the author's death through the persons and institutions the statute designates.
Forms of Infringement and Liability
Article 58 provides that infringement of the copyright, neighbouring rights and the database maker's rights provided for by the law entails civil, administrative and criminal liability. A physical or legal person that fails to comply with the law's requirements counts as an infringer, and the unlawful use of a work is expressly named. The law separately identifies contemporary digital infringements: the alteration or deletion of rights-management information without the rightholder's permission; the circumvention of technological measures; and the production, import, distribution, sale, rental or advertising of a technology, device or component that serves the circumvention of technological measures. For moral rights this means that removing the author's name from a work, altering or distorting its content without consent, and denying attribution are not merely ethical matters but legal problems on which all three forms of liability may operate — and the author's claim for restoration stands alongside whatever sanction the state may impose.
Frequently Asked Questions
We answer the most frequently asked questions below.
Can moral rights be alienated?
No. Article 17 expressly prohibits the alienation of personal non-property rights during the author's lifetime; they remain with the author even where the economic rights are assigned.
Who protects the author's rights after death?
The heirs, without limitation in time; a person designated by the author; and where heirs are absent or act improperly, the National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia, Sakpatent.
What is the withdrawal right and who bears its costs?
It is the author's right to demand the cessation of use of the work. Its exercise is at the author's expense: the author compensates the user's damage, lost profits included, and publicly declares the withdrawal; the right does not extend to works made in the course of employment.
What liability follows a violation of moral rights?
Under Article 58, infringement entails civil, administrative and criminal liability; unlawful use and the alteration or deletion of rights-management information both count as infringements.
How We Help on Legal.ge
The Legal.ge team offers comprehensive services for the protection of the author's moral rights: we prepare demands for the restoration of attribution and integrity, assess facts of distortion and unlawful use, review contracts touching moral rights, and substantiate claims for compensation. If your work has been used without your name or altered — contact us on Legal.ge and we will plan the right route to restoring your rights and invoking liability.