Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have listened attentively to all the Deputies and thank them for their useful contributions, comments and observations on the Bill. The Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, will work positively with Members as the Bill progresses through the Houses in the coming weeks and months. The Bill is detailed and technical legislation that will, when implemented, modernise and expand copyright and related rights in Ireland.

I will try to address some of the comments made as best I can. Deputy Kelleher referred to the protection of intellectual property, IP, and reward for people's efforts, with which I agree. All sides agree that we must ensure there is a good judicial system. Enforcement is also important. We should protect and reward creators for their efforts and the works they create. The Bill supports creators of lower value IP to better protect it through the Circuit and District Courts. Work is also under way within the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, in co-operation with other agencies of the State, to reinforce our efforts on the enforcement of IP, seizure of counterfeit goods and improvement of education and awareness of IP and its enforcement. I remind Deputy Kelleher that higher value IP cases will continue to be heard in the Commercial Court.

Deputy Smyth asked about enforcement as well, which I have just addressed. She also spoke about infringement, which is an important issue. The Bill contains an extension to the jurisdictions of the Circuit and District Courts to allow cases to be brought before them. This amendment would support small and, in particular, individual right holders in protecting their IP and enforce their rights in smaller cases that it is not economically feasible to prosecute before the High Court.

Deputy Quinlivan asked why we had not decided to create a specialised IP court. The Department explored this matter thoroughly with the Department of Justice and Equality and the Courts Service and it was concluded that there would be significant costs involved in the training of specialised judges and registrars and the establishment of additional structures for a specialised court within the Circuit Court system, which is already heavily burdened. This is particularly important, given other Government priorities in terms of access to the courts, such as the specialist judges appointed to deal with personal insolvency cases since 2013, and the increased demand on criminal, civil and family court proceedings in recent years. However, it was possible to improve access to the lower courts for IP infringement claims in general, a measure that is included in the Bill.

The Deputy asked why we had decided not to establish a copyright council. It was envisaged that the board of the council would be constituted by a diverse range of stakeholders with an active interest in different aspects and agendas, ranging from individual authors, composers and photographers, organisations, large-scale online platforms and representatives of organisations. With such a diverse range, it is likely that there would be considerable difficulties trying to reach consensus on issues within the council and it would be difficult to propose a unitary view to the Minister in terms of policy making. Also, the establishment of a copyright council has not been fully quantified, given the Government's general policy orientation towards reducing the number of new public bodies. Due to a significant number of issues, including the cost that would be involved in creating this body, it was decided not to proceed with its establishment, as such a copyright council would not be fit for purpose and would be unlikely to achieve the aims envisaged.

Deputy Quinlivan mentioned a number of matters recommended by the CRC that are included in the Bill and I thank him and all other Deputies for their remarks in that regard. Deputy Quinlivan also inquired about the Marrakesh treaty. The Bill makes a number of changes to the provisions for persons with a disability that are necessary for the transposition of the EU directive that would allow the EU to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled. The Bill will allow designated bodies to make multiple accessible format copies of works, transfer these copies to other designated bodies that need them and accept modified copies from other designated bodies. However, some further legislative amendments will be necessary to give full effect to the directive, and these will be made by way of secondary legislation in order to comply with the transposition deadline of 11 October.

Deputy Jan O'Sullivan discussed submissions to the CRC. The Department considered these as part of its analysis of the CRC's recommendations along with legal, cost and policy considerations. There was a wealth of useful contextual information that helped to shape implementation of as much as possible of what was considered by the CRC in spirit even if not exactly as it recommended.

The Deputy also asked about the Bill's data mining provision. In September 2016, the European Commission presented a legislative package for the modernisation of the EU's copyright rules, including a proposed directive on copyright in the digital Single Market. That directive included the proposal to introduce a mandatory exemption for text and data mining, TDM. However, this occurred after a decision had already been taken to implement a TDM exception in Irish legislation, which received Government approval in July 2016. Ireland's current copyright legislation and the amendments contained in the Bill will not conflict with anything contained in the proposed directive. Negotiations are ongoing on the copyright directive at EU level and departmental officials are fully engaged with them. The Department will, of course, make any necessary legislative amendment once the directive is finalised and align with our obligations to transpose EU directives into national law.

The Minister hopes to progress the Bill quickly in order to ensure that the necessary legislative basis to allow Ireland and the EU as a whole to ratify the World Intellectual Property Organization's Marrakesh treaty by the deadline of 11 October.

I thank all the Deputies for their engagement and for the informative debate on the Bill. The Minister looks forward to further constructive engagement on Committee Stage.

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