Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 134: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his Department has received correspondence over each of the past ten years expressing concerns in relation to protection of copyright of musical publications or records or the counterfeiting of such; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19510/07]

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 135: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the legislation which covers copyright of musical publications and records of artists; if the stated legislation is applicable to Irish citizens who work overseas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19511/07]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I propose to take Questions Nos. 134 and 135 together.

The Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 (No. 28 of 2000) provides protection to musical publishers and recording artists in respect of their productions and recordings. The levels of protection provided are fully in line with EU and wider international law in the area of copyright and related rights and are widely regarded in Ireland and worldwide as providing an effective legislative framework for the protection of the intellectual property rights of musical authors, arrangers and performers as well as those of musical sound recording producers.

In accordance with the normal principles of law applying between nations, Irish copyright law does not apply directly to the works of Irish citizens outside the jurisdiction. However, where copyright in musical compositions and arrangements is concerned, Irish authors of such works are entitled, under the terms of our membership of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and of the WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), to the protection of other countries copyright laws at a comparable high standard on a reciprocal basis (basis of national treatment) where those other countries are members of that Convention and of the World Trade Organisation. In practice, this means that a high level of protection such as that available here in Ireland should equally be available to Irish composers and arrangers in most foreign jurisdictions.

As regards record producers and performers, the International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations of 1961- generally called the Rome Convention — and the World Intellectual Property Organisation WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty of 1996, set comparably high standards for similarly reciprocal protections for Irish citizens and companies in the majority of countries which now meet these standards.

My Department and I receive regular correspondence relating to various issues including music copyright protection matters. This would include expressions of concern related to counterfeiting and to the damage that results from copyright theft in fields like music, film and software in Ireland and internationally. I regard counterfeiting and piracy of music and other works as being serious offences to be actively prosecuted when detected. I am however broadly satisfied in this context that our legislation — and the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000, in particular, provides wide-ranging powers to facilitate doing so in an effective way within Ireland, that our EU partners have similar laws in place in their countries and that, in our dealings with the wider world, we encourage and support tougher legislation and its enforcement in protecting intellectual property where and when that is needed.