Vol. 464 No. 1
41 Kathleen Lynch asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the progress, if any, that has been made in reviewing Irish copyright law and in drafting the heads of consolidated legislation in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7647/96]
I would draw the Deputy's attention to my reply to her on this subject on 25 January 1996, as reported in the Official Report, columns 1,355-57, volume 460.
In that reply I indicated that the intellectual property unit of my Department had recently completed its review of Irish copyright law which took account of:
I. Our international obligations under the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and the Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers and Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations;
II. EU legislation on, inter alia, rental and lending, cable and satellite broadcasting and duration of copyright together with proposals for EU legislation on resale rights and private tape levies;
III. Technological developments;
IV. The legitimate interests of both suppliers and users of copyright materials and;
V. The need to ensure that copyright law does not impede legitimate creative activity.
As I mentioned in that earlier reply, the unit is currently drafting heads of a consolidating piece of legislation in this extremely difficult and technical area. The new piece of legislation will be a very substantial one, as this area has not been addressed in over 30 years and as legal and technological changes since then have greatly impacted on this issue.
I do intend to bring forward this piece of legislation as soon as possible but the Deputy will appreciate that given the difficulties and technical issues involved, the importance of the legal rights provided for and the nature of our international obligations, this process must not be rushed. The Deputy can be assured that there will be no delay in processing the legislation, and, indeed, steady progress is being made in this regard and that I will make every effort to expedite it.
