Under the Copyright Act, 1963, songwriters and other owners of rights in musical works, records, or broadcasts have rights relating to the public performance of their works. These rights are enshrined in the Act which gives effect to the international copyright Conventions to which Ireland is a party, notably the Berne Convention for the protection of literary and artistic works, and the Rome Convention for the protection of performers, producers of phonograms and broadcasting organisations. Copyright law is also governed by our EC commitments in this area.
Entitlement to royalties for public performances of material covered by copyright is therefore a normal legal entitlement of rightowners. The fact that RTE may have paid the rightowners for the right to broadcast material does not absolve a third party from the obligation to pay in respect of non-private use of broadcast material.
Significant developments in the copyright area, at international and EC level as well as here in Ireland, require a review of the Copyright Act, 1963. It is my intention, as I announced earlier this week, to carry out such a review. My aim is to seek the correct balance between the protection of copyright owners and the users of copyright material.
