Paul Gauguin. Be in Love and You Will Be Happy. 1889. Carved, polished and polychromed linden wood. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA. Right-clicked from http://www.abcgallery.com
Re: the alterations made by the National Press Club on the mural painted by the Neo-Angono Artists Collective on the history of freedom of the press, following are some notes:
Lest patrons/ clients of artists think they can alter the work of painters (or songwriters, sculptors, novelists, etc.), they are not allowed to do so without permission of the artist under the Intellectual Property Code.
It is true that when it comes to commissioned work, the person who so commissioned the work, or the person who paid the artist to render the work, owns the object or the work, in this case, the mural itself; but the copyright remains with the artist. What does this mean? Copyright means exclusive right to reproduce the work. (Parenthetically, or to illustrate: the artist can render the work again and do whatever he wants to do with the other rendition, unless there is a stipulation in the contract that the patron or client also bought and would own the copyright.) (For commissioned research, most of the time, the company or funding agency stipulates that they own the copyright of the work so only they alone can publish or not publish it.)
MORE IMPORTANT however, since the artist retains the copyright, he/ she also retains what the Intellectual Property Code calls “moral rights”. What are artists’/ authors’ moral rights? These include the following:
1) the right of the author or artist to have the work attributed to him/her (unless the copyright was bought, as i said; like when you were paid to ghostwrite a speech, don’t go around town publishing it in your name; in fact, don’t go around town bragging you’re the ghostwriter etc.);
2) the right of the author or artist to have his/her name displayed “in a prominent way” on the copies or in the public exhibition;
3) the right of the author/ artist to make changes or alterations in his/ her own work (of course; that’s his work!);
4) the right of the author/ artist not to publish or publicly exhibit his/ her work, unless of course, as I said, he/ she has sold the copyright of his/ her song, artwork, etc. as stipulated in the contract;
5) the right to object to any “distortion, mutilation,” or other changes in his/ her work; or to “other derogatory action in relation to his work” that would damage his/ her reputation;
6) the right to stop anyone from using his/her name in connection with any work not his/ hers or with a distorted version of his/ her work. In other words, if the patron or client insist in changing the work, the artist or author can get an injunction to stop them from putting his name there.
Any violation of these rights can give rise to a cause of action for damages. In other words, the artist or author can sue those who violated the rights enumerated above.
Here they are, the pertinent provisions of the Intellectual Property Code on the matter:
“Intellectual Property Code. Sec. 178.4. In the case of a work commissioned by a person other than an employer of the author and who pays for it and the work is made in pursuance of the commission, the person who so commissioned the work shall have ownership of work, but the copyright thereto shall remain with the creator, unless there is a written stipulation to the contrary;
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“ Sec. 193. Scope of Moral Rights. – The author of a work shall, independently of the economic rights in Section 177 or the grant of an assignment or license with respect to such right, have the right:
“ 193.1. To require that the authorship of the works be attributed to him, in particular, the right that his name, as far as practicable, be indicated in a prominent way on the copies, and in connection with the public use of his work;
“193.2. To make any alterations of his work prior to, or to withhold it from publication;
“193.3. To object to any distortion, mutilation or other modification of, or other derogatory action in relation to, his work which would be prejudicial to his honor or reputation; and
“193.4. To restrain the use of his name with respect to any work not of his own creation or in a distorted version of his work. (Sec. 34, P. D. No. 49)
“Sec. 199. Enforcement Remedies. – Violation of any of the rights conferred by this Chapter shall entitle those charged with their enforcement to the same rights and remedies available to a copyright owner. In addition, damages which may be availed of under the Civil Code may also be recovered. Any damage recovered after the creator’s death shall be held in trust for and remitted to his heirs, and in default of the heirs, shall belong to the government. (Sec. 40, P. D. No. 49)”
