Until recently, the moral rights of artists were not recognized under United States law. Then, in 1984, New York passed similar legislation, apparently inspired by an incident in 1980 in which the Bank of Tokyo cut up and removed a sculpture by Isamo Noguchi from the bank's Wall Street office without informing the artist. Over the next few years, several other states also passed moral rights laws. The Berne Convention, while primarily concerning copyright law, also guarantees to artists the rights of integrity and paternity. Here's how it works.
Visual art is defined generally as original paintings, drawings and sculptures.
Photographs produced for the purpose of exhibition and printed works such as lithographs are also covered, but only in limited editions of no more than 200 copies, each of which must be signed and consecutively numbered. Only the artist. Unlike copyrights, the moral rights granted under VARA are personal and non-transferable, meaning they last only for the lifetime of the artist and only the artist can enforce them. The artist has the right to prevent any intentional distortion, mutilation or other modification of a work if it would be prejudicial to his or her honor or reputation. This big restriction here is that the act must be intentional.