COPYRIGHT
LAWS INFORMATION
On 21st
December 2000, Parliament passed the Copyright Amendment
(Moral Rights) Act 2000.
It introduces
a further three rights for creators, which are moral rights
as distinct from economic rights. They are:
-
to
be attributed as the author (or creator) of a work
-
not
to have authorship of a work falsely attributed
-
the
right of integrity of authorship (ie. the work must not
be subjected to derogatory treatment).
Right
(a) has application to churches in the publication or presentation
of songs. It means that the author's name should appear alongside
the song. It would apply to things like song sheets compiled
by the church and digital or overhead projection of songs.
It is not uncommon to see songs presented in churches without
the author's name.
A song
is not unlike a book or a sermon, where the author or preacher
is always identified, for many obvious reasons. Songs should
be treated in the same way.
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