On the implications of the unalienability of the right of authorship for ghostwritting contracts

Abstract

This paper will argue that the right of authorship is unalienable even when it becomes subject to a commercial contract (of which some of examples are ghostwriting agreements such as those for political speeches and autobiographies). The paper will argue further that the general concept of moral rights is weakened by theories which allow ghostwriting in order to keep the theory of copyright law close to practice. Practice, however, is sometimes morally dubious. This paper’s purpose is to show that ghostwriting defies many rules as the scope of the term encompasses many.