Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 18 Feb 1998

Vol. 487 No. 4

Written Answers. - Copyright Legislation.

Willie Penrose

Ceist:

19 Mr. Penrose asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she will ensure that the Copyright and Related Rights Bill will be brought before Dáil Éireann immediately in view of the embarrassing moves by the United States Government to open a case against Ireland at the World Trade Organisation as a result of Ireland's failure to implement the 1994 TRIPS trade agreement. [4111/98]

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Miss Harney)

On foot of commitments given to the US authorities, the US Government does not intend to proceed with the World Trade Organisation action referred to in the Deputy's question.

Current Irish legislation on copyright is incorporated mainly in the 1963 Copyright Act and I wish to take this opportunity to assure the Deputy and the House that the Government is fully committed to introducing a comprehensive Copyright and Related Rights Bill as a matter of the utmost priority to take account of technological developments since 1963, EU developments and international agreements including the TRIPS agreement.

The intellectual property unit of my Department and the Attorney General's office are currently operating a fast track drafting mechanism which I am confident will lead to a comprehensive Bill of over 400 sections being published by the end of July. I hope that the Bill will be presented to the Oireachtas in the autumn session and that, with hard work by all sides of this House and the Seanad, this new legislation will be implemented by the end of the year and will ensure that Ireland will enter the new millennium with a state of the art copyright and related rights protection system.

In the interim, and in an attempt to address some very real weaknesses in existing Irish copyright law which have come to attention arising from consultations between Ireland and the US authorities in the recent past, I propose to introduce a short Copyright (Amendment) Bill which will deal with two very specific questions, namely, the level of penalties for copyright infringement and the proof of certain facts in copyright cases.

In respect of the former I am looking closely at the level of penalties contained in the Trade Marks Act, 1996, as a useful template for action and in respect of the latter I would propose to ensure that the presumptions contained in section 26 of the 1963 Copyright Act be extended to cover all works. I hope to be in a position to bring forward this short Bill very soon with a view to having it implemented into law by end July 1998.

The issues raised by copyright and related rights involve issues related to private property rights. They are highly technical and require detailed examination and a cautious and balanced approach. I assure the Deputy that I intend to act as expeditiously as possible given these constraints and intend to adhere to the timetable outlined above to ensure that Ireland enters the new millennium at the forefront of intellectual property protection.