Stephen Bain wrote:
[1] The French law seems to suggest that the moral
rights can actually
be devised, rather than merely subsisting in the estate, but that goes
at odds with the idea that they're inalienable.
If I understand the French law correctly, I believe it indicates that
the authority to enforce the rights can be passed to a designee, but
that the rights would presumably remain with the estate itself. For
example, there are several agencies set up to watch over the licensing
rights of various artists' estates, and I imagine some might have been
specifically authorized to handle moral rights issues as well.
The result could be that a designee would file the lawsuit to protect
the wishes of the deceased artist, but that any damages would go to the
actual heirs. But I'll defer to any French lawyer who understands the
interpretation better.
--Michael Snow