asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if the Berne Convention dealing with copyright is now sitting; if the Saorstát is represented at the Convention, and, if so, whether he will take steps to ensure that Ireland has the same conditions as Canada in respect of printing and copyright, so far as works written by Saorstát nationals are concerned.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - COPYRIGHT—THE BERNE CONVENTION.
Delegates from the countries that are parties to the international agreement for the protection of copyright, known as the Berne Convention, meet at intervals of about ten years for the revision of the agreement made in the year 1886, which has been revised in 1896, 1908 and 1914.
It is expected that Saorstát Eireann will be represented at the next revising Convention, which will meet at Rome in the spring of next year.
A proposal to adopt Canadian copyright conditions in Saorstát Eireann was fully discussed by the Oireachtas earlier in this year on the consideration of the Industrial and Commercial Property (Protection) Bill, and rejected on its merits. I do not propose to recommend a reversal of that decision of the Oireachtas.