IrelandCopyright and Related Rights Act 2000: Infringement of Copyright and Fair Dealing
Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 (No. 28 of 2000), ss. 37, 39, 40, 50, 127 and 140
In force since .
A copyright and text and data mining (TDM) rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Prohibition
- Audit expectation
- none
What it requires
- Do not copy a work, make it available to the public or make an adaptation of it without the copyright owner's licence; storing a work in any medium and making copies that are transient or incidental to some other use of it count as copying (ss. 37(1), 37(2), 39(1)(a)).
- Making copies of a work available by wire or wireless means so that members of the public may access it from a place and at a time chosen by them, including through the Internet, is making it available to the public (s. 40(1)(a)).
- Fair dealing with a work for the purposes of research or private study does not infringe its copyright, but only where the use does not unreasonably prejudice the interests of the copyright owner (ss. 50(1), 50(4)).
- Do not, without the copyright owner's consent, hold in the course of a business, trade or profession, or make available to the public, a copy of a work that you know or have reason to believe is an infringing copy (s. 140(1)(d), (e)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionYes
Criminal exposure note
The offence under section 140(1) is, without the copyright owner's consent, holding in the course of a business, trade or profession, or making available to the public, a copy of a work known or believed to be an infringing copy. On summary conviction: a class C fine in respect of each infringing copy, or imprisonment up to 12 months, or both; on conviction on indictment: a fine up to EUR 130,000 or imprisonment up to 5 years, or both.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The copyright owner, by civil action (s. 127).
Settledness
- As of
- Open questions
- Does a transient or incidental copy that a crawler makes while it retrieves and parses a page count as copying under section 39(1)(a)(ii), where the page is not mined for text and data under section 53B?
- Is fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study under section 50(1) open to a commercial operator that collects works to build a dataset?
What it makes you log
Logging duty
Sections 37, 39, 40, 50, 127 and 140 define the acts restricted by copyright, a fair dealing exception, the owner's civil remedies and an offence. They impose no duty to create, keep, produce or review a log or record.
- Kind
- None
- As of
What this law does
Part II of the Act came into operation on , except sections 98, 198 and 199. The owner of the copyright in a work has the exclusive right to copy the work, to make it available to the public and to make an adaptation of it. The copyright in a work is infringed by a person who, without the licence of the copyright owner, undertakes, or authorises another to undertake, any of the acts restricted by copyright.
Copying a work includes storing the work in any medium and making copies that are transient or incidental to some other use of the work. Making a work available to the public includes making copies of the work available by wire or wireless means, including through the Internet, so that members of the public may access the work from a place and at a time chosen by them.
Fair dealing with a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, sound recording, film, broadcast, cable programme or non-electronic original database for the purposes of research or private study does not infringe any copyright in the work. Fair dealing means making use of a work that has already been lawfully made available to the public for a purpose and to an extent that will not unreasonably prejudice the interests of the owner of the copyright.
An infringement of the copyright in a work is actionable by the copyright owner, and all relief by way of damages, injunction, account of profits or otherwise is available as it is in respect of the infringement of any other property right.
A person who, without the consent of the copyright owner, has in his or her possession, custody or control in the course of a business, trade or profession, or makes available to the public, a copy of a work that he or she knows or has reason to believe is an infringing copy, is guilty of an offence.
A person guilty of an offence under section 140(1), (3) or (4) is liable on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding EUR 130,000, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, or both.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app crawls the web or trains models.
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