Ireland has implemented the Use for the purpose of research or private study (Art. 5.3(n) InfoSoc) exception in Section 69A of the Copyright and Related Rights Act. The national exception closely resembles the EU exception.

Implementation summary:

This exception allows for the communication, by the librarian or archivist of a prescribed library or prescribed archive, to members of the public of copies of works in the permanent collection of the library or archive, by dedicated terminals on the premises of the library or archive. Such use constitutes fair dealing when it is i) undertaken for the sole purpose of education, teaching, research or private study, and ii) accompanied by a sufficient acknowledgement. The same applies to the brief and limited display of a copy of a work where such purpose is neither directly nor indirectly commercial.

Implementation details:

Beneficiaries:

• librarian or archivist of a prescribed library or prescribed archive

Purposes:

• education, teaching, research or private study of members of the public

Usage:

• communication (by dedicated terminals on the premises of the library or archive)
• making available to the public (of brief and limited displays of a still image or very short clip from a recording)

Subject Matter:

• works
• recordings of performances

Compensation:

• no compensation required

Attribution:

• use must be accompanied by a sufficient acknowledgement

Other Conditions:

• works used must be in the permanent collection of the library or archive
• use must be done by dedicated terminals on the premises of the library or archive

Introduced/last updated: 26 June 2019

Remarks: The exception extends to recordings of performances as per Section 235A, including 'the brief and limited display of a still image or very short clip from a recording', also 'by the librarian or archivist of the first-mentioned library or archive, by another person acting under the authority of that librarian or archivist' and 'during a public lecture given in that library or another prescribed library or in that archive or another prescribed archive' or 'by the librarian or archivist of the first-mentioned library or archive or by another person acting under the authority of that librarian or archivist'. Section 235A also allows for the communication of the display referred hereto through the Internet or otherwise.

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)