---
title: "Moral rights"
description: "An artist’s rights in the integrity and attribution of their work, separate from copyright: altering or misattributing a piece can be unlawful even after sale."
glossary: "https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary"
source: "https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/moral-rights"
---

# Moral rights

> An artist’s rights in the integrity and attribution of their work, separate from copyright: altering or misattributing a piece can be unlawful even after sale.

Glossary: https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary  
Source: https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/moral-rights

The defining Canadian case is *Snow v. The Eaton Centre* (1982): the Toronto
mall tied Christmas ribbons on the necks of Michael Snow's sculpted geese,
and the court ordered them removed as a violation of the work's integrity.
In the United States, the Visual Artists Rights Act (1990) provides similar
protection, most famously in the 5Pointz case, where a federal court
awarded US$6.75 million (affirmed on appeal in 2020) after a building owner
whitewashed dozens of aerosol works.

The practical lesson for anyone commissioning: moral rights don't transfer
with copyright. In Canada they can be waived but never assigned, so the
contract must address them explicitly. Coatings, repairs, relocation, and
eventual deaccession all touch the work's integrity, and it's far better to
agree on the ground rules at signing than in court.

Related terms: [Freedom of panorama](https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/freedom-of-panorama), [Conservation](https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/conservation), [Deaccession](https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/deaccession), [Commission](https://www.civiccollection.com/glossary/commission)

## Mentioned in

- [How to Photograph Public Art for Documentation](https://www.civiccollection.com/blog/how-to-photograph-public-art-for-documentation)
- [Public art inventory field checklist](https://www.civiccollection.com/toolkit/public-art-inventory-field-checklist)