Ireland has implemented the Preservation of cultural heritage (Art. 6 DSM) exception in Sections 59 to 70 of the Copyright and Related Rights Act. The national exception is slightly more restrictive than the EU exception.
Implementation summary:
Sections 59 to 70 allow for different types of permitted use, including reproduction, by libraries or archives, upon conditions prescribed by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. In 2019 an additional Section 68A introduced an exception for format shifting for preservation or archival purposes where those purposes were neither directly nor indirectly commercial, however concrete beneficiaries are still to be prescribed by the Minister. Works used must be in the permanent collection of the library or archive, in a different form to that which the copy takes. The exception under 68A is not overridable by contract.
Implementation details:
Beneficiaries:
- prescribed libraries or prescribed archives
Purposes:
- non-commercial preservation or archival purposes
Usage:
- reproduction (format shifting)
Subject Matter:
- works
Compensation:
- no compensation required
Attribution:
- no attribution required
Other Conditions:
- librarian or archivist lawfully uses the means used to make the copy
- the work being copied must not be an infringing copy and the librarian or archivist making the copy, or causing it to be made, did not have reasonable grounds for believing that the work was not an infringing copy
- works used must be in the permanent collection of the prescribed library or archive
- works used must be in a different form to that which the copy takes
Introduced/last updated: 26 June 2019
Remarks: Sections 59 to 70 allow for different types of permitted use, including reproduction, by libraries or archives. However, the rules concerning specific beneficiaries, cases of use, as well as specific conditions, are within the discretion of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Reproduction for the purpose of preservation is originally limited by the Law to replacing in the permanent collection of another prescribed library or prescribed archive a work which has been lost, destroyed or damaged, and only where it is not reasonably practicable to purchase a copy of the work concerned. All provisions cover works that have been lawfully made available to the public. Use of undisclosed works is also allowed if these works are in the permanent collection of the library or archive and only if the copyright owner has not prohibited copying of the work and at the time the copy is made the librarian or archivist making the copy knew, or ought to have been aware of, that fact.
Section 68A, introducing an exception for format shifting by librarians or archivists was added in 2019. It introduces a statutory exception for reproduction for preservation or archival purposes where those purposes are neither directly nor indirectly commercial, however concrete beneficiaries are still to be prescribed by the Minister. Works used must be in the permanent collection of the prescribed library or archive, in a different form to that which the copy takes. As of 2021, in implementation of the CDSM Directive, Section 68A was declared not overridable by contract in a new subsection 3. No other amendments to the pre-existing regime were made.
In Ireland there is no overall distinction made between works of authorship and related rights. Certain provisions are stated to apply to some but not all rights holders - for example moral rights are granted only to authors of literary, dramatic, musical, artistic works and film. However in general the provisions relating to ownership, duration, permitted acts, dealings and so forth, apply in the absence of a specific exclusion to every 'work', with ‘work’ defined as a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, sound recording, film, broadcast, cable programme, typographical arrangement or a published edition, or an original database, and includes a computer programme. Performances and works protected by the database right are dealt with separately to the main scheme. (see Linda Scales in ‘Ireland’ (2019), B Lindner and T Shapiro (eds), Copyright in the Information Society, Elgar Intellectual Property Law and Practice, 471)
The exception partially extends to recordings of performances as per Section 227 et seq CA. The specific cases of permitted use, beneficiaries and concrete conditions are still to be set by the Minister.
The exception does not extend to the newly introduced as of 19 November 2021 press publishers' right!
