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16 B. C. Int'l & Comp. L. Rev. 29 (1993)
Work-For-Hire and the Moral Right Dilemma in the European Community: A U.S. Perspective

handle is hein.journals/bcic16 and id is 35 raw text is: Work-For-Hire and the Moral Right Dilemma in the European Community: A U.S. Perspectivet Robert A. Jacobs* INTRODUCTION For some copyright owners, the 1992 buzz words of freedom of movement are a cruel joke. Despite the drive toward a barrier- free common market within the European Community (EC), copyright owners continue to face the unique obstacles created by moral right principles. These principles, in essence, give an author the right to publish his work as he sees fit, and to prevent its injury or mutilation.' Since these rights generally only accrue to the creator of a work,2 persons who acquire interests in a copyrighted work by means other than creation must consider whether their use of a work could violate its creator's moral right. The burden of assessing potential moral right claims falls partic- ularly on copyright licensees, assignees, and those who own copy- right interests in works made for hire. While this class of owners as a whole faces the same moral right dilemma in the EC, recent developments in the work-for-hire context3 best illustrate the extent to which the international copyright community continues to misconstrue national approaches to copyright ownership and moral right. t Copyright © 1993 Robert A. Jacobs. This Article is an entry in the 1992 ASCAP Nathan Burken National Competition. The author wishes to thank Professor Lawrence A. Sullivan and Professor Robert C. Lind for their helpful comments. *J.D. (cum laude), Southwestern University School of Law. Mr. Jacobs is currently a law clerk for Judge Gregory Carman of the United States Court of International Trade in New York City. 1 MARSHALL LEAMrR, UNDERSTANDING COPYRIGHT LAw 2 (1st ed. 1989). 2 Id. at 254 (describing moral right as an inalienable, natural right and an extension of the artist's personality). 3 During the summer of 1991, John Huston's heirs successfully asserted the director's moral right to enjoin the televised broadcast of a colorized version of the film Asphalt Jungle. Judgment of May 28, 1991 (Huston v. La Cinq), Cass. civ., 1991 Bull. Civ., No. 89-19.522 (Fr.), available in LEXIS, Prive Library, Cassci File. The French Supreme Court granted the injunction despite the fact that M.G.M. had acquired the film's original copyright as a work-for-hire and validly transferred its interest to Turner Broadcasting. Id.

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