Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 October 2023
98. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Finance where the intellectual property rights of a designated activity company, established for the purpose of section 481 tax relief, go upon the dissolution of the said company. [43580/23]
View answerI am advised by Revenue that a qualifying company for the purposes of section 481 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, often referred to as the Designated Activity Company or DAC, is required to exist “solely for the purposes of the production of only one qualifying film”. As a result, it will usually receive the power to use whatever rights are necessary for the production of the film, documentary or TV series. The qualifying company does not generally hold intellectual property rights once the project has completed.
The rights are generally conveyed through an agreement such as a One Picture Licence or a Production Service Agreement (PSA). The rights are licenced from the party that holds the intellectual property rights, in most cases the Commissioning Producer which is the entity commissioning the project. Where a project is a co-production between multiple companies, the ownership and usage rights may be set out in numerous agreements between the Irish producer company and its co-producer(s) and the conditions stipulated in the PSA.
PSAs typically include a provision requiring a qualifying company to assign any rights, title or interest it may have, or have created, in the course of the project. This assignment is generally to the producer company or the Commissioning Producer.
