Copyright I

Question 1

What is a copyright ?

Answer 1

Field of intellectual property law specifically dedicated to regulating the creation and use of cultural or artistic creations (like books, films, paintings, computer programs etc.)

Question 2

Requirements for Protection - Copyright Subsistance

Answer 2

• Categorization
• Fixation
• Originality
• Exclusions

Question 3

Requirements for Protection - Types of protected works

Answer 3

• Literary Works
• Dramatic Works
• Musical Works
• Artistic Works
• Sound Recordings
• Films
• Broadcasts
• Typographical Arrangement of Published Editions
• Databases

Question 4

Duration of Copyright Protection

Answer 4

For authorial works:
Generally, the lifetime of the author plus 70 years from their death

For entrepreneurial works:
Generally, the lifetime of the creator plus 50 years from their death

Each has exceptions

Question 5

Categorization

Answer 5

Section 17(2) Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000: Copyright subsists, in accordance with this Act, in

(a) Original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works,
(b) Sounds recording, films, broadcasts or cable programmes,
(c) The typographical arrangement of published editions, and
(d) Original databases.

Question 6

Categories

Answer 6

Author works:
- Literary works
- Dramatic works
- Musical works
- Artistic works

Media Works:
- Sound recordings
- Films
- Broadcasts
- Typographical arrangement of published editions
- Databases

Question 7

Dramatic works

Answer 7

Includes a choreographic work or a work of mime

Question 8

Musical works

Answer 8

A work consisting of music, but does not include any words, or action, intended to be sung, spoken or performed with the music

Question 9

Artistic works

Answer 9

Includes a work of any of the following
Descriptions, irrespective of their artistic quality—
(a) photographs, paintings, drawings, diagrams, maps, charts, plans, engravings, etchings, lithographs, woodcuts, prints or similar works, collages or sculptures (including any cast or model made for the purposes of a sculpture),
(b) works of architecture, being either buildings or models for buildings, and
(c) works of artistic craftsmanship;

Question 10

Sound recording

Answer 10

Means a fixation of sounds, or of the representations thereof, from which the sounds are capable of being reproduced, regardless of the medium on which the recording is made, or the method by which the sounds are reproduced

Question 11

Film

Answer 11

Means a fixation on any medium from which a moving image may, by any means, be produced, perceived or communicated through a device

Question 12

Broadcast

Answer 12

Means an electronic transmission of sounds, images or data, or any combination or representation thereof, for direct public reception or for presentation to members of the public

Question 13

Database

Answer 13

Means a collection of independent works, data or other materials, arranged in a systematic or methodical way and individually accessible by any means but excludes computer programs used in the making or operation of a database

Question 14

Fixation

Answer 14

Section 18(1) Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000: Copyright shall not subsist in a literary, dramatic or musical work or an original databases until that work is recorded in writing or otherwise by or with the consent of the author.
Section 18(2): “fixation” means the embodiment of sounds or images or any combination of sounds or images, or the representation thereof, from which they can be perceived, reproduced or communicated through a device.

Question 15

University of London Press v University Tutorial Press (1916)

Answer 15

Irish point of view on originality
“The originality which is required relates to the expression of the thought. But the Act does not require that the expression must be in an original or novel form but that the work must not be copied from another work – that it should originate from the author.”

Question 16

Interlego v Tyco (1989)

Answer 16

UK Interpretation of Originality
Effort, skill, labour, or judgment are not necessarily enough for copyright protection.

Question 17

Infopag International A/S v Danske Daglabafes-Forening

Answer 17

EU Interpretation of Originality
Original in the sense that it is its author’s own intellectual creation.

Question 18

Qualification

Answer 18

Copyright shall not subsist in a work unless the qualification requirements of this chapter are satisfied in relation to:

(a) the author in section 183 Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000,

(b) the country, territory, state or area in which the work was first lawfully, made available to the public in section 184,

(c) in the case of broadcast or a cable programme, the country, territory, state or area from which the broadcast was made or from which the programme was sent in section 186.

Question 19

Qualification – The author

Answer 19

Section 183(1) of the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000

A work shall qualify for copyright protection where the author was at the material time a qualifying person.

Section 183(2)

For the purposes of this part, a qualifying person shall be
(a) an Irish citizen;
(b) a citizen or subject of, or an individual domiciled or ordinarily resident in the State, or in any country, territory, state or area to which the relevant provisions of this Part extend;
(c) a body incorporated under the law of the State or of any country, territory, state or area to which the relevant provisions of this Part extend;
(d) a partnership or unincorporated body formed under the law of the State or of any country, territory, state or area to which the relevant provisions of this Part extend; or
(e) any other body in the State or of any country, territory, state or area to which the relevant provisions of this Part extend.

Question 20

Qualification – The work

Answer 20

Section 184(1) Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000

A literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, sound recording, film, typographical arrangement of a published edition or an original database, shall qualify for copyright protection where it is first lawfully made available to the public
(a) in the State; or
(b) in any country, territory, state or area to which the relevant provision of this Part extends.

Section 186

A broadcast shall qualify for copyright protection where it is lawfully made from, and a cable programme shall qualify for copyright protection where it is first sent from a place
(a) in the State, or
(b) in any country, territory, state or area to which the relevant provisions of this Part extend.