International context (Berne Convention 1886)
Non-transferable inalienable rights to claim authorship and to object to derogatory treatment of a work that would be prejudicial to the author’s honour and reputation. The rights recognise non-economic interests an author may continue to exercise in respect of a work even though no longer owner of the copyright or of the tangible work in which the copyright reside. The rights last as long as the copyright in the work in some countries (UK); and forever in other countries (France). Some countries allow moral rights to be waived or require assertion before they are enforceable (UK); in others the rights are perpetual, inalienable and imprescriptible (France).
Sources:
Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, 1886. Available at http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/text.jsp?file_id=283698