Rights regarding intellectual property are protected in the Republic of Ireland by existing copyright law. The Copyright Act 1963, amended in 1987, is the primary instrument protecting creative works from literature to computer software programs. Statutory Instrument Number 158 of 1995 extended the duration of copyright from 50 years after the death of the author to 70 years after the death of the author in line with other EU countries. Historically little case law on copyright has accumulated in Ireland, although a number of major cases have been litigated recently.

Copyright Protection Is Extended To:

u every original literary dramatic musical or artistic work
u every sound recording, film, television broadcast and published edition
u books, plays, music, computer software programs, paintings, sculptures, drawings, engravings,
    photographs, works of architecture , CDs, videos and television programs

Protected works enjoy freedom from unauthorized:

u Reproduction of the work in any material form
u Publishing the work
u Performing the work in public
u Broadcasting the work
u Causing the work to be transmitted to subscribers to a diffusion service
u Making any adaptation of the work
u Doing in relation to an adaptation of the work, any of the acts mentioned in paragraphs

Copyright Ownership:

The author is the copyright owner except in certain instances.

Copyright Duration Statutory Instrument Number 158 of 1995 extended the period of copyright enjoyed by literary dramatic musical and artistic works to 70 years after the year end of the death of the author as opposed to 50 years after the year end of the death of the author. Under the 1963 Act the copyright in sound recordings, films and television programs were protected by copyright for a period of 50 years after first publication or broadcast. This has now been extended to 70 years for feature films but not for sound recordings or television broadcasts.

Copyright Registration:

There is no registration system for copyright works in either Ireland or the United Kingdom or for that matter in most parts of the world outside the United States. The normal advice to copyright owners is to keep full and accurate records of the works created and when they were created.²

Actual Practice:

Although laws exist on the books in Ireland, enforcement has historically been lax. As recently as 1997, United States Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky threatened to file a complaint against Ireland under the provisions of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement). TRIPS obligates WTO members to modify domestic law and to enforce minimum standards for the protection of intellectual property. According to the Trade Representative, Ireland has not yet amended its copyright law to comply with TRIPS obligations. Examples of TRIPS inconsistencies include absence of a rental right for sound recordings, no "anti-bootlegging" provision, and very low criminal penalties which fail to deter piracy.
Source: USTR Report quoted by USIS-Israel.
 

Software Piracy In Ireland:

According to the 1998 BSA/SIIA Piracy Study, Ireland has demonstrated strong improvement in the rates of software piracy in the country. Although the trend is encouraging, in 1998, Irish software users still obtained 56% of software in use illegally. This amount constitutes lost revenue of approximately $61 million according to the study.

Piracy Rates:

              1994     1995     1996     1997      1998
Ireland      74%     71%       70%     65%     56%
U.K.         42%     38%       34%     31%     29%

Source: Business Software Alliance

Electronic Signatures: 

On Friday, September 4th 1998, Irish Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, and U.S. President, Bill Clinton signed a joint communique on Internet-based electronic commerce, using electronic signatures. The ceremony, marking the first time two heads of state have used this method to replace more traditional pens, took place at Gateway Computer's Dublin facility.  This history-making digital event showcases Ireland's emerging status as a key international e-commerce player.

Baltimore Technologies, the Dublin based Irish firm is responsible for supplying the electronic signature technology and over the past 18 months has become one of the leading global suppliers of encryption and other electronic authentication software. Electronic signatures are available in two formats: those which employ encryption (encoding information by digitally scrambling it) and those which use another form of verification, such as a 'smart card' embedded in a microchip that carries data identifying the card holder. The specific technology used for the signing on September 4th, supplied by Baltimore Technologies, was smart-card based.

The electronic signing highlights the use of electronic signatures as a reliable and secure means of guaranteeing identity, which is vital for Internet-based transactions. ⁸

source:  Baltimore Technologies  Enterprise Ireland

Text of the Communique follows:

Communiqué issued by the United
States of America and Ireland
on Electronic Commerce
_________________________________________________
 

Global electronic commerce will be an engine of economic growth in the 21st century, with the potential to invigorate economies by enhancing productivity, streamlining distribution, and revamping corporate structures.

Electronic commerce will improve the standard of living of citizens in the United States and Ireland, as well as the rest of the globe, by creating new, high-paying jobs and opportunities. Small and medium-sized enterprises, in particular, will benefit from new opportunities to sell their products to a world-wide market.

It is recognised that the liberalization of the telecommunications markets plays a key role in the development of electronic commerce.

The Governments of the United States and Ireland recognise the importance of global co-operation in the promotion of electronic commerce and the need to reach coherent and effective global solutions in the construction of a seamless environment for electronic commerce and, in this respect, welcome the opportunity of building on the principles and guidelines agreed in the US-EU Joint Statement on Electronic Commerce and, in particular, would emphasise:
 

• the key role of industry in developing electronic commerce through the development of new services and by helping to set rules for the functioning of this market-place;
• that the role of government is to provide a clear, consistent and predictable legal framework, to promote a pro-competitive environment in which electronic commerce can flourish and to ensure adequate protection of public interest objectives such as privacy, intellectual property rights, prevention of fraud, consumer protection, and public safety;
• that unnecessary legal and regulatory barriers should be eliminated and the emergence of new ones should be prevented.   Where legislative action is deemed necessary, it should not be to the advantage or disadvantage of electronic commerce compared with other forms of commerce;
• that taxes on electronic commerce should be clear, consistent, neutral and non-discriminatory; that there should be close co-operation and mutual assistance to ensure effective tax administration and to combat and prevent illegal activities on the Internet;
• the strong desirability of continuing the current practice of not imposing customs duties on electronic transactions; and
• that it is important to enhance the awareness and confidence of citizens and SME's in electronic commerce and to support the development of relevant skills and network literacy.

1. Authentication/Electronic Signatures: Governments should support a global uniform commercial legal framework that recognises, facilitates, and enforces electronic transactions world-wide. A wide variety of authentication methods and technologies are developing rapidly. With respect to authentication and electronic signatures, efforts of the private sector in constructing rules and guidelines should be encouraged.

 The commercial legal framework should conform with the following principles:
 

• the acceptability of electronic signatures for legal and commercial purposes;
• the propriety and desirability of allowing parties to a transaction to determine the appropriate technological and business methods of authentication for their transaction; and
• the fostering of mutual cross-border recognition of electronic authentication methods and a non-discriminatory approach to electronic signatures from other countries as a necessary step in the removal of artificial barriers to cross-border commercial transactions

3. Combating Illegal Use and Content: We encourage international co-operation between law enforcement authorities as a means of combating and preventing illegal activities on the Internet and the exploitation and illegal use of electronic commerce by criminal and terrorist organisations.

 Industry, through self-regulation, should establish effective measures to counter the proliferation of illegal content on the Internet.

4. Access Issues: In instances where users, such as parents, do not wish to receive certain types of content, industry should be encouraged to make available filtering or blocking systems or other tools, as appropriate. Industry should also be encouraged to develop content-rating systems to improve the effectiveness of filtering tools.

 Governments should not prevent their citizens from accessing information simply because it is posted in another country or in a foreign language. Furthermore, governments can use information technology to become more open, responsive, efficient and accessible to the public.

5. Electronic Payments: Market-driven developments in this area should be encouraged.

6. Intellectual Property Rights: Growth of electronic commerce depends on the adequate protection of intellectual property rights, which will be assisted by ratification and implementation, as soon as possible, of the W.I.P.O. Copyright Treaty and the W.I.P.O. Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

7. Domain Name System: In order to reach its full potential, the system for registering, allocating and governing Internet domain names should be global and market-based and reflect the geographically and functionally diverse nature of the Internet.

8. Consumer Protection: Electronic commerce should provide at least the same level of protection as in other forms of commerce.

9. Taxes: We will actively participate in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development work toward developing framework conditions for the taxation of Electronic Commerce. Close co-operation and mutual assistance are necessary to ensure effective tax administration and to prevent tax evasion on the Internet.

In the furtherance of the principles set out in this statement, the United States and Ireland shall seek to encourage:
 

• closer co-operation between the two countries for promoting electronic commerce and to build on the strong US-industry presence in Ireland and the growing base of Irish companies in the United States as a means of developing our mutual interests in this area;
• further bilateral discussions at expert level, where appropriate, regarding the development of global electronic commerce;
• dialogue and co-operation among the market participants in both countries, since the market should lead in the development of electronic commerce;
• close co-operation with a view to encouraging the development of statistical data on electronic commerce; and,
• enhanced co-operation within relevant international fora to achieve global consensus on an international framework for electronic commerce.

U.S. and International
Ireland
source:  McBride Baker & Coles
 

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Last update: December 17, 1999 by ED/MM.