Copyright Act 1994

Moral rights - Right to be identified as author or director

95: Content of right to be identified

You could also call this:

"Knowing who created a work: your right to be identified"

You have the right to be identified as the author or director of a work. When your work is published or shown to the public, you should be identified clearly. This can be on the copy of the work or in another way that people will notice. You can choose how you want to be identified, such as using a pseudonym or your initials. If you do not specify how you want to be identified, any reasonable way is okay. For example, if you created a building, your name should be visible to people entering or approaching the building. If you made a film, sound recording, or other work, your name should be clear and easy to see or hear. This is so people know you are the author or director of the work, as stated in section 94.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM346247.

This page was last updated on 3 December 2025 — View changes

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Business > Intellectual propertyArts and culture > Arts fundingArts and culture > Heritage protection

94: Right to be identified as author or director, or

"Know who made it: the right to be named as the creator"

96: Right must be asserted, or

"You must say you want to be known as the creator of your work to stop others using it without credit."

Part 4Moral rights
Right to be identified as author or director

95Content of right to be identified

The right conferred by section 94 on an author or director is as follows:
in the case of commercial publication, or the issue to the public of copies of a film or sound recording, to be identified clearly and reasonably prominently—
1. in or on each copy published commercially or issued, as the case may be; or
2. if identification in or on each copy is not appropriate, in some other manner likely to bring his or her identity to the attention of a person acquiring a copy:
in the case of identification on a building, to be identified by appropriate means visible to persons entering or approaching the building:
in any other case, to be identified clearly and reasonably prominently in a manner likely to bring his or her identity to the attention of a person seeing or hearing the performance, exhibition, showing, communication work, graphic work, or photograph.

For the purposes of subsection (1), if the author or director, in asserting his or her right to be identified, specifies a pseudonym, initials, or some other particular form of identification, that form shall be used, but, in any other case, any reasonable form of identification may be used.

Notes

Section 95(1)(c): amended, on 31 October 2008, by section 56 of the Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act 2008 (2008 No 27).