I move amendment No. 9:
In page 35, line 21, after "director" to insert "and the author of the screenplay of the film and the author of the dialogue of the film and the author of music specifically composed for use in the film".
I admit my heart is not in amendment No. 9. I remember when I tabled the amendment on Committee Stage I even said I did not expect the Minister to accept it. However, I tabled the amendment because there is an anomaly, and I hope the Minister will say he has found a solution to it. My heart is not in the wording I have used. Let me attempt to cover the point I wish to make.
There is inconsistency, and I refer to section 25(1) and section 22(2). Section 22(2) states: "A film shall be treated as a work of joint authorship unless the producer and the principal director are the same person." The implication in that section seems clear in that the authorship of a film belongs to both the producer and the principal director only. If they are one and the same person, then we are talking about sole ownership. That seems quite clear but at first I was a little surprised at it. I then assumed it meant that copyright of the film itself is one thing and copyright of the screenplay is something else. Specially composed music would be a separate matter altogether.
Section 25(1) states: "the copyright of the film shall. . . . " and it talks about the principal director of the film, the author of the screenplay, the author of the dialogue of the film and the author of music specifically composed for use in the film. I have a problem in finding that one section seems to say one thing and another something else. I accept that my amendment, which states: "after "director" to insert "and the author of the screenplay of the film and the author of the dialogue of the film and the author of music specially composed for use in the film", does not seem very logical. That is what is being done in section 25 but not in section 22. I hope the Minister has found a solution to what I regard as a difficulty.
I became involved in a film, or I know of a young man who made a film – I referred to this earlier last year –"How to Cheat in the Leaving Cert". We have all mentioned the names of things in which we were involved, and Senator Henry did not know that I acted in a film. I discovered all the things which that young man who put together this film had to do. He came into the House and told me what he planned to do. I then realised the difficulties there are and that it is hard to pinpoint authorship in one area and copyright in another. In this case, we seem to be doing two different things. I will not press this amendment other than to ask the Minister for an explanation or has he found a solution to what I regard as an anomaly between sections 22 and 25?