European Communities (Copyright and Related Rights) Regulations 2004

On the 19th January 2004 the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment signed into law the European Communities (Copyright and Related Rights) Regulations 2004 (S.I. No 016 of 2004) which amended the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 so as to transpose certain provisions of Directive 2001/29/EC.

The principle objective of this Directive is the incorporation into EU law of the provisions of the 1996 WIPO Copyright Treaty and the Performance and Phonograms Treaty.

The 2000 Act gave effect to these Treaties in advance of the adoption of the Directive but on review it was felt that there was a requirement for a number of changes to ensure that Irish law fully and properly reflected the provisions of the Directive.

Following a detailed examination and consultation process it was felt that the 2000 Act was deficient in two key areas.

• Article 5.1 of the Directive provides for a mandatory exception from copyright for incidental copies of works - such as electronic cached and screen copies in a particular form. The Regulations amend Sections 87 and 244 of the 2000 Act so as to provide that "temporary acts of reproduction which are transient or incidental" and whose sole purpose is to facilitate transmission "in a network between third parties by an intermediary".
• Article 6.4 of the Directive requires member states to ensure that access to copyrighted material is afforded to persons who are legally entitled to such access but who are prevented by the application of technological protection measures by rightholders - including the right of such beneficiaries to seek an order of the courts to force such access.