Ireland adopts innovation agenda on intellectual property

By EDRi · May 18, 2011

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: [Irland: Innovationen zu geistigem Eigentum | http://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_9.10_Irland_Innovationen_zu_geistigem_Eigentum]

Richard Bruton, the Irish Minister for Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation, said
that he was determined that the Irish government should make whatever
changes were necessary to allow innovative digital companies to reach their
full potential in Ireland. He said that some companies have complained that
the current copyright legislation did not cater well for the digital
environment and created barriers to innovation and to the establishment of
new business models. For this reason, he has proposed research into how the
current copyright law could be amended in such a way so that it would foster
innovation.

In order to achieve the aforementioned goal, Mr Bruton set up the Copyright
Review Committee which, in the words of the Department of Enterprise, Trade
and Innovation, has the following tasks:

(1) Examine the present national copyright legislation and identify any
areas that are perceived to create barriers to innovation;
(2) Identify solutions for removing these barriers and make recommendations
as to how these solutions might be implemented through changes to national
legislation;
(3) Examine the US style “fair use” doctrine to see if it would be
appropriate in an Irish/EU context;
(4) If it transpires that national copyright legislation requires to be
amended but cannot be amended, (bearing in mind that Irish copyright
legislation is bound by the European Communities Directives on Copyright and
Related Rights and other international obligations) make recommendations for
changes to the EU Directives that will eliminate the barriers to innovation
and optimise the balance between protecting creativity and promoting and
facilitating innovation.

After completing these four tasks, the Copyright Review Committee will
present a Report to the Government with a set of recommendations for
legislative change. The Review will start with a consultation. All
interested parties are invited to submit their views for inclusion in the
review.

The Chair of the Review Committee will be Dr. Eoin O’Dell of Trinity
College, Dublin. The other members of the Review Committee will be
Professor Stephen Hedley (University College Cork) and Ms. Patricia
McGovern (DFMG Solicitors). The deadline for sending submissions is the end
of June 2011.

Consultation on the Review of the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000,
Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation of Ireland (09.05.2011)
http://www.deti.ie/science/ipr/copyright_review_2011.htm

Radical copyright law reform to boost Ireland’s digital economy?(09.05.2011)

BT Ireland

(Contribution by Daniel Dimov – intern at EDRI)