Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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On the 12 November 2021, Directive (EU) 2019/790 was transposed into Irish law by way of S.I. No. 567/2021 - European Union (Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Single Market) Regulations 2021. The Regulations strengthen the rights and protections of right holders in order to reflect the impact of technological advances and increased digitalisation. The Regulations also provide for wider access and use of copyright protected works for the benefit of a broad range of stakeholders, including the creative sectors, press publishers, researchers, educators, cultural heritage institutions, and citizens. The transposition of the Copyright Directive also amended some aspects of the Copyright Act 2000 (as amended).

While Irish copyright legislation does not specifically mention ‘buy-out’ contracts, Chapter 6 of the Regulations addresses the principle of appropriate and proportionate remuneration for rightholders. Regulation 26 outlines what factors should be taken into account when considering what is ‘appropriate’ and ‘proportionate’ remuneration in any given circumstance. Regulation 27 provides for a transparency obligation meaning that a rightholder shall receive, from the party to whom the rightholder has transferred his or her rights, detailed information on how the work has been exploited.

This provision ensures that rightholders, including performers and writers, have access to an increased level of information about the exploitation of their works and performances which is necessary to allow them to adequately and continuously assess the economic value of their work.

Having obtained information, by way of the transparency obligation, Regulation 28 offers performers and writers a contract adjustment mechanism when “the remuneration originally agreed turns out to be disproportionately low” compared to the success of their work or performance and the resulting revenues generated. Regulation 31outlines that any contractual provisions that prevents compliance with both the transparency obligation and the contract adjustment mechanism are unenforceable. As the Regulations transposed an EU Directive, the same protections are available to performers and writers across the EU.

While my Department does not have a role in the enforcement of rights, the copyright legislation ensures that rightholders have an effective means of enforcing their rights, should they believe them to be infringed, by way of proceedings before the appropriate court. In addition, the Regulations provide that should there be a dispute regarding the transparency obligation and/or the contract adjustment mechanism, parties may engage in mediation consistent with the Mediation Act 2017. In addition, disputes may be referred to arbitration in accordance with the Arbitration Act 2010. This is without prejudice to any judicial remedies.