Aspects of confidentiality, copyright, and accreditation

Abstract

Few would deny that in recent years techology has made the task of creating medical illustrations progressively easier. However, other factors have made the process more difficult. Some are obvious, such as the relentless advance of medical and scientific knowledge, changes in educational processes, the introduction of new communications media. Others, such as the law and human rights, are less well recognized. This paper examines some of these aspects—in particular the subject of confidentiality and how it relates and interacts with laws governing child protection, video recordings, obscene publications, and copyright—and how they create new legal and ethical responsibilities for medical illustrators.