Moral rights are statutory rights for the author of a work, or the director of a film, to be identified as such, if the work is

commercially published

performed or shown in public

broadcast

recorded for public circulation

exhibited in public

or, in the case of films, videos and sound recordings, if copies of the work are issued to the public.

Moral rights also protect an author or director from derogatory treatment of their work, that is treatment amounting to distortion or mutilation or ‘otherwise prejudicial to the honour or reputation of the author or director’ [Copyright Act, 1988, Part 1, Section 80].

Moral rights must be formally asserted and the author/director clearly identified on each copy of the work to which the rights apply.

An associated right confers a degree of privacy in respect of photographs commissioned for personal use, where the customer’s consent is required for their exploitation (Copyright Act 1988, s.85).

While citation of sources is not required by statute in cases of copying for private study, it is good practice to do so. Acknowledgement of source is mandatory in the case of copies of literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works that are

• supplied by a library or a librarian, or
• made for the purpose of criticism, review or news reporting (other than reporting by means of broadcast, film, or sound recording), or
• held in the Library’s short loan collection

Plagiarism is the passing off of someone else's work as your own. It is theft. Cutting and pasting material from another source into your own essay, thesis or web page - to give a few examples - without clearly pointing out the fact is plagiarism. Merely failing to show clearly that data from another source has been quoted or incorporated in your work could be interpreted as plagiarism. The author of such unacknowledged material can take legal action and seek redress. In an academic environment plagiarism is wholly unacceptable and may lead to disciplinary action being taken against the plagiarist. PlagiarismAdvice.org can provide help and advice for both students and faculty on the prevention and detection of plagiarism.