Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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747. 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. [37073/16]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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In my most recent answer to Parliamentary Question No. 294 to the Deputy on 20 October, I advised on progress in relation to the proposed Bill on copyright for which Government approved the Heads of Bill in July 2016. 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. The Bill does not involve a thorough examination of copyright legislation in its entirety or indeed of the rights of artists. In general, the rights of artists come within the overall policy responsibility of the Minister for the Arts, Heritage, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.

As advised, the Bill is currently undergoing the formal drafting process with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and that remains the position.

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.