Ireland has implemented the Use for the benefit of people with a disability (Art. 5.3(b) InfoSoc) exception in Section 104 of the Copyright and Related Rights Act. The national exception is slightly more restrictive than the EU exception.

Implementation summary:

This exception allows for a designated body to: i) make, or cause to be made, a copy of a work for the purpose of modifying the copy; ii) supply the modified copy of the work to a person with a disability; iii) supply the modified copy of the work to another designated body; iv) receive a modified copy of the work from another designated body, or a person with a disability; v) supply the modified copy of the work that it has received to a person with a disability, or another designated body. The use must be for the benefit of a person with a disability, must be directly related to the disability, must be for a non-commercial purpose and made only to the extent required by the nature of the disability. The modified copy concerned must bear or otherwise incorporate an express statement to the effect that the copy has been made under this scheme and must be accompanied by a sufficient acknowledgement. The exception does not apply where there is a certified licensing scheme applicable and the designated body or person with a disability making, or causing to be made, a modified copy of that work knew or ought to have been aware of the existence of the licensing scheme.

Implementation details:

Beneficiaries:

  • a designated body
  • a person with a disability

Purposes:

  • for the benefit of a person with a disability, non-commercial

Usage:

  • reproduction
  • communication to the public
  • adaptation

Subject Matter:

  • works

Compensation:

  • no compensation required

Attribution:

  • use must be accompanied by a sufficient acknowledgement

Other Conditions:

  • use must be directly related to the disability
  • use must be for a non-commercial purpose
  • use must be made only to the extent required by the nature of the disability
  • the modified copy must bear or otherwise incorporate an express statement to the effect that the copy has been made under this exception
  • the exception can be overriden by an applicable certified licensing scheme, if the designated body or person with a disability making, or causing to be made, a modified copy of the work knew or ought to have been aware of the existence of the licensing scheme

Introduced/last updated: 26 June 2019

Remarks: As of 2019, ‘disability’ in the Irish Copyright Law has the meaning assigned to it in section 2 of the Disability Act 2005, according to which 'disability', in relation to a person, means a substantial restriction in the capacity of the person to carry on a profession, business or occupation in the State or to participate in social or cultural life in the State by reason of an enduring physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual impairment.

Before 2019 Ireland had a more general disability exception. The 2019 ammendment detailed the regime and provided for contractual override in the law.

Under Section 104B, added in 2019, the publisher of a relevant work must make or cause to be made at least one electronic form of the work which enables copies of the work to be made without undue difficulty, which are easily navigated, and which are capable of being modified. Unlike the general provision of Section 104, here any terms of a licence granted on foot of the general licensing scheme that purports to restrict this obligation shall be unenforceable.

The publisher of a relevant work who is the subject of a relevant request may, by notice in writing given to the designated body which made the request, decline to comply with the request until the publisher receives a payment to cover the reasonable costs of the publisher that would be incurred in complying with the request. ‘Relevant request’ means a request in writing that the publisher deliver, in the manner specified in the request, the relevant material i) in such digital or electronic or other technological form specified in the request and to the address (which may be an electronic address) specified in the request, or ii) by permitting the designated body to access the relevant material. ‘Relevant material’ means the electronic form of a relevant work and any other material required to ensure that such electronic form complies with the requirements of the law.

In terms of subject-matter, 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 extends to recordings as per Section 252 of the Law, according to which, 'a designated body may make a copy of a recording, for the purpose of modifying that copy to meet the special needs of a person who has a physical or mental disability'. The provision was not modified in 2019, and should not technically be subject to contractual override.