Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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294. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if she will undertake a full review of the rights of artists here including a thorough examination of existing copyright laws and the current Competition Act. [31296/16]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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In response to Parliamentary Question No. 659 put down by the Deputy for answer on 5 July 2016, I outlined my intention to seek Government approval for the General Scheme of a Bill in the copyright area. The main purpose of the proposed Bill is to respond to certain of the recommendations contained in a Report undertaken by the Copyright Review Committee entitled “Modernising Copyright” which was published in October 2013.

I am pleased to advise the Deputy that in the interim, Government has approved the General Scheme of a Copyright Bill. The Bill is currently undergoing the formal drafting process with the Office of the Attorney General.

Artists who are employees in Ireland have the same rights as all other employees. In cases of self-employed artists, as with other self-employed workers, the application of competition law would only be a consideration if there are allegations of anti-competitive behaviour.