Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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Question 118: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he is satisfied that internet freedom has not been restricted by the new regulations governing this sector. [30458/12]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I understand that it has been clarified with the Deputy by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, who have responsibility in internet matters, that the regulations to which the Deputy refers are the European Union (Copyright and Related Rights) Regulations 2012. It is a requirement in EU law that an injunction may be sought against an intermediary to whom Article 8(3) of Directive 2001/29/EC on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society applies. In transposing the Directive it was assumed that our courts already had this power by virtue of their equitable jurisdiction. However, this was not the view taken by the High Court in the case of EMI and others vs. UPC which indicated that Ireland may not be in full compliance with its EU obligations under the Directive. Accordingly, the EU (Copyright and Related Rights) Regulations were introduced in 2012 to ensure the return to the legal position that was considered to pertain, in relation to injunctions against intermediaries, prior to the High Court judgment in October 2010.

The wording of these Regulations only allows a right holder to apply for an injunction in respect of a particular work. It is important to note that the requirement legislated for is to ensure that right holders are in a position to apply for an injunction against intermediaries whose services are used by a third party to infringe a copyright or related right. It should be noted that the EU Copyright Directive only directs that an injunction may be applied for – it does not mandate that it should be granted. It is also important to note that the granting of injunctions is not an automatic procedure and involves a judicial process before the High Court.

I am satisfied that the freedom of individuals to access legitimately available content on the internet has not been affected by this measure which is applicable across all Member States of the EU. The Deputy may be aware that Minister Richard Bruton has established an independent Copyright Review Committee who published a wide-ranging Consultation Paper on 29 February, 2012 which examines the current Copyright legislative framework to identify any areas of the legislation that might be deemed to create barriers to innovation. The Review Committee established a further consultation process on this date based on the issues and concerns addressed in the Consultation Paper and invited further submissions from all affected or concerned by the issues raised in the Paper including information providers and ISPs, innovators, rights-holders, consumers and end-users.