Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming in to take this Bill. I welcome the legislation, as others have done. It sets out to implement some of the recommendations in the Modernising Copyright report prepared by the Copyright Review Committee back in 2013, and it is also influenced by the Marrakesh treaty, both of which Sinn Féin support.

The importance of copyright to the creative economy cannot be underestimated. Copyright is the principal tool used by creative workers to generate sustainable income and wealth and protect their share of the value that they create. We have to remember always that the creative industries are the only industries where something is consistently created from absolutely nothing, hence the importance of copyright as the wealth of artists, musicians and others.

According to the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, €9.2 billion in copyright royalties was collected and distributed to artists in 2016 across five global regions from the music, audiovisual, literature, dramatic and visual sectors. The British Equity collection service distributed more than €10 million to UK performers for their work in British film and television.

Copyright prevents third parties from profiting from the labour of creative people without paying for the exploitation of that labour. Historically, it is the artist's protection against the extraction of value. Writers, directors, designers, visual and plastic artists, songwriters, composers etc. all own the copyright on the work that they make. It is illegal to sell on or otherwise use or profit from a text, a performance or an image without the express permission of the creator of that text, performance or image and without providing mutually agreed equitable remuneration for that use.

Will the Minister of State explain further why the copyright council, which was recommended within the report that I mentioned, has not been catered for in this Bill? The Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, in response to my colleague, Deputy Quinlivan, stated that it is Government policy to reduce quangos and that the establishment of a copyright council had not been fully quantified on that basis. That is a very poor reasoning and, when substantial reports like this one are worked on and one of the core recommendations is so easily dismissed, that sets a bad precedent.

The Australian Copyright Council, the Copyright Council of New Zealand, and the British Copyright Council all cover the duties and functions similar to what is outlined in the Modernising Copyright report. These are all private, not-for-profit bodies that are funded primarily, I presume, through membership fees. A private not-for-profit approach with a membership fee could also be taken in Ireland, as suggested in the consultation paper. Work and consultation could also be done through the Department to help launch such a body that would establish an advocacy, advisory and stakeholder-led copyright council. With the booming screen industry and with famous music and visual art industries, we have further expert-led opinion advising on policy to protect our artists' intellectual property. I may table amendments on this area on Committee Stage, but I would like to hear the Minister of State's response regarding the establishment of a copyright council.

In addition, and I have spoken on this on numerous occasions, I am very disappointed that the Bill has not facilitated a legal digital deposit. I am conscious that an amendment was passed at the behest of Fianna Fáil in the Dáil to bring about a feasibility study. We need to be conscious of our general acceptance that what goes online stays there for ever. The reality, from those who have done their homework on this, is that 35% of what goes online is not available the following year, and much less is available ten years later. Our libraries and national institutions have a responsibility to archive all physical publications in this State, and it is of great importance that we do not lose what goes online because this is an issue of national memory. I refer to things such as recent referendum campaigns and all such matters. The National Library has the ability to sweep the .iedomain. I believe 20 of 28 EU member states have digital legal deposits in place. We cannot lose this information for future generations.

The legislation only allows for restrained depositing by our deposit institutions, who have to request to have publications archived rather than being allowed to sweep the domain regularly. We are looking at the possibility of mass non-compliance where digital publications are not archived at all. How would the National Library approach every individual publication or publisher? It is not possible, and mass non-compliance will follow from this.

In addition, when the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, was in what is now the Department Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, they conducted a consultation in which 42 responses, or 90% of the people who were consulted on the issue, said we very much need to establish a digital deposit scheme. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, has since moved to the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, which has responsibility for this, and the matter seems to be off the table or pushed down the line with no appetite to follow through on it. This is of great concern and I reserve my right to table amendments on the issue in future debates.