Abstract
Technology, knowledge and society intersect in different ways through the disciplines that form them, as in the relationship between law and architecture. The impact of the legal landscape upon the built environment reveals certain inherent societal values which, when applied, lead to divergent moral outcomes. This is most apparent in international copyright legislation. Since the 1886 Berne Convention, 181 countries have created conforming legislation protecting original work. However, a recent study of copyright laws indicates a wide spectrum of control that spans between a designer’s moral rights over original work and the economic, or ‘exploitative’, rights of any third party who owns the work. Philosophical differences exist between the United States at one end of the spectrum and several European countries, such as France and Italy. In the latter (where the ‘droit d’auteur’ was originally instigated by Victor Hugo), the creator’s moral rights are taken very seriously. They can influence and even control the sale, destruction, removal, maintenance or alteration of their original work regardless of practical and financial implications of ownership. By contrast, the American courts place a greater emphasis on owners’ rights of copyrighted work. While the American system technically recognizes the concept of moral rights, economic concerns tend to prevail. This paper explores varying copyright laws and examines the spectrum of control that lies between a strict enforcement of designers’ moral rights and owners’ economic/exploitative interests by examination of the language and application of enabling legislation that have resulted in divergent approaches to preserving originality in design.
Presenters
Robert GreenstreetProfessor and Dean Emeritus, Architecture, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States Karen Greenstreet
Retired, School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Law, Copyright, Originality, Architecture, Morality
