John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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I am pleased to bring the Copyright and Other Intellectual Property Law Provisions Bill 2018 before the committee and I thank it for the opportunity to do so. I have brought a number of Bills through the Houses but this is the most technical and detailed legislation with which I have had to deal. It is necessary to update and modernise the copyright regime in Ireland. I thank the representatives of all parties who were constructive and who, in general, support the Bill.

I will comment on the amendment put forward by Deputy Lawless and Deputy Quinlivan. I have listened to the rationale. I will explain why I do not propose to accept it. I spoke to the Chairman about the matter earlier. The amendment proposes the inclusion of a section that will permit a deposit institution, in other words, a board or authority, to reproduce any work made available in the State through the Internet - if the website is not paywall-protected or password-protected - without infringing the copyright of that work. Essentially, the amendment is to provide for a full digital deposit system that would facilitate the recording and making available of websites with Irish domain names, the .iedomain, that are not currently archived. Such action has been referred to as capturing or preserving the web.

In the first instance, the problem we have is that this is a matter for the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, which is responsible for policy is this area. That makes matters a little difficult for my Department. The Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht is currently undertaking a detailed and extensive examination and analysis of the proposal, after which it may then be presented to Government to seek approval to pursue this policy change. Such a change would include all necessary legislative amendments and seek Exchequer funding for the purpose proposed.

The Department and I understand the desire of the Deputies to capture the web for preservation purposes. However, it is essential that sufficient time is allocated to conduct the appropriate level of analysis and consider the potential impact such a proposal may have on the rights of right-holders.

I will cut to the chase. The difficulty we have is that if we were to go back and include this amendment and go through all the details of including the amendment, it would possibly set back the Bill. It could delay the 11 October deadline and delay all 28 member states from ratifying the treaty. Sections 24 and 26 include several changes in this regard. I could go through a great deal on the matter but basically this will go back to the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, which is responsible for policy in this area. It is out of my remit and the remit of my Department. It was considered by my Department as part of Professor O'Dell's report in 2013. That is where we stand in terms of the amendment.

I could easily say to the Deputies that I am not accepting the amendment but I do not want to go down that road. I hope the Deputies will not call for a vote on it. We should let it go to the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, which is responsible for policy in this area and see where it lies. If we include the substantive provision, we would have to go through a legal process. We would have a great deal to do and that would set us back months. That is the position of the Department.