Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 March 2012
115 Deputy Patrick Nulty asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide an update on the Copyright Review Committee review of Ireland’s copyright legislation; if he will outline the terms of reference of the review and how citizens can contribute to the review; if the review will ensure that internet freedom is protected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17374/12]
View answerThe Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton T.D established the Copyright Review Committee on 9th May, 2011 to examine the current Copyright legislative framework to identify any areas of the legislation that might be deemed to create barriers to innovation and to make recommendations to resolve any problems identified. The Review will ultimately present a Report with a set of recommendations for legislative change.
The Copyright Review Committee was established with the following terms of reference:
1. Examine the present national Copyright legislation and identify any areas that are perceived to create barriers to innovation.
2. Identify solutions for removing these barriers and make recommendations as to how these solutions might be implemented through changes to national legislation.
3. Examine the US style ‘fair use' doctrine to see if it would be appropriate in an Irish/EU context.
4. If it transpires that national copyright legislation requires to be amended but cannot be amended, (bearing in mind that Irish copyright legislation is bound by the European Communities Directives on Copyright and Related Rights and other international obligations) make recommendations for changes to the EU Directives that will eliminate the barriers to innovation and optimise the balance between protecting creativity and promoting and facilitating innovation.
The membership of the independent Committee is Dr. Eoin O’Dell (Trinity College Dublin), (Chair), Patricia McGovern (DFMG Solicitors, Dublin) and Prof. Steve Hedley (University College, Cork).
The Committee conducted an initial consultation process during the summer of 2011 and received over 100 submissions from interested parties. The Committee held a well-attended and particularly fruitful public meeting on 4th July 2011 in Trinity College Dublin.
The Committee issued a Consultation Paper on 29th February, 2012 which sets out the issues and concerns which were expressed to the Committee in the aforementioned submissions from a broad spectrum of interested parties. The Committee explores various options to address these concerns in the light of the Terms of Reference and the Paper also poses questions on these matters.
The Committee has established a further consultation process based on the issues and concerns addressed in the Consultation Paper and are inviting further submissions from all affected or concerned by the issues raised in the Paper including information providers and ISPs, innovators, rightsholders, consumers and end-users. The Committee also held a further public meeting on 24th March, 2012 for the purpose of facilitating discussion in relation to the issues raised in the Consultation Paper. The closing date for the receipt of submissions is 5.00 pm on Thursday 31st May 2012. The Committee will then evaluate the further submissions and prepare a Final Report.
The Committee now has a dedicated website at http://www.djei.ie/science/ipr/crc.htm and it will be directly linked from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation’s homepage until the Review process is complete. The Committee’s site provides information regarding the various ways to participate in the consultation process. As well as by post and email, the Committee has prepared an online questionnaire [https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CRC12] to reply to the questions they pose in the Consultation Paper. It is available from the Committee’s website.
The Irish Internet Association have also provided a mechanism for online submissions to collate its members' views and to gather the views of others on the Paper, using a structured mechanism for feedback. All stakeholders are welcome to complete the questionnaire and responses will be sent directly to the department upon closing of the survey. The questionnaire is available on the Irish Internet Association website at [http://www.iia.ie/feedback/].
The Minister wishes to inform the Deputy that the Copyright Review Committee are an independent body and therefore, it would not be appropriate for him to comment at this juncture on any issues which are being considered by the Committee in the context of their ongoing review of the legislation.
However, the Minister would like to call on all interested parties to engage fully with the ongoing work of the Copyright Review Committee and strongly encourages all those interested in these matters to give careful study to the Consultation Paper and to put forward their views to the Copyright Review Committee.
