Right to kudos

[Jonathan Buhacoff]

The proposed right:

No person shall falsely take credit for actions or communications that were not their own. No person shall falsely take credit for the the actions or communications of another person. No person shall falsely deny the actions or communications of another person.

No person shall falsely take credit for contributions or misconduct that were not their own. No person shall falsely take credit for the the contributions or misconduct of another person. No person shall falsely deny the contributions or misconduct of another person.

No person shall falsely take credit for awards or penalties they did not earn. No person shall falsely take credit for the the awards or penalties earned by another person. No person shall falsely deny the awards or penalties earned by another person.

Intent:

The word kudos means fame, renown, or glory and originates from the Greek word kydos, meaning “that which is heard of” or possibly “to see, observe, perceive” (from Online Etymoloby Dictionary).

The right to kudos is in three parts — what people do or say (knowledge or raw data), how what people do or say is recognized as either good or bad (perception), and keeping an accurate record (history).

Discussion:

It can be said that the right to kudos is covered by the right to honest and peaceful speech, in that falsely claiming credit someone else’s contribution, or falsely denying someone else’s contribution, is dishonest and is not covered speech. Most of the time, giving proper attribute or citation or credit for someone’s contribution is free, a mere mention somewhere. The only reason that a person has to falsely take credit for or falsely deny the work of someone else is to either claim a benefit for themselves or deny a benefit to that person — both of these are a kind of harm. The right to kudos obliges anyone who knows of such false attribution or false denial to advocate for the proper attribution or citation, even if the victim is dead — perhaps especially if the victim is dead, as they are unable to advocate for themselves.

Article 27.2 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.” The right to kudos covers this protection of moral and material interests resulting from one’s contributions to society.

In the United States, the Stolen Valor Act makes it a crime to fraudulently claim having received a military valor award with the intention of obtaining some benefit from that claim. The right to kudos covers the same intent but more broadly, for any contribution of any kind.

In academia, there is an emphasis on the proper citation of the work of others. This is covered by the right to kudos.

Copyright law protects the copyright holder of a work, while the right to kudos protects the original author as well as the publisher, each for their contributions.

Patent law protects the owner of the patent, while the right to kudos protects the inventor as well as the assignee, each for their own contribution.

The right to kudos also applies to detractors – if someone does something that is very bad, others have the right to tell about it. The bad news must be true — the right to honest and peaceful speech does not cover misinformation and baseless defamation. This is in line with current practices such as doing background checks on job applicants, not allowing people convicted of domestic abuse to be soldiers, not allowing people convicted of armed robbery to work at a bank, etc.

In the positive case, receiving good credit for one’s contribution creates an obligation on others to properly attribute them. In the negative case, receiving bad credit for one’s mistakes or misdeeds does not create an obligation on others to report them, but does prohibit confidentiality agreements that cover up misdeeds.

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