Copyright protection provides a vital incentive for the creation of
many intellectual works. Without copyright protection, it would be easy
for others to exploit these works without paying any royalties or
remuneration to the owner of the work. Copyright therefore
encourages enterprise and creates a favourable climate to stimulate
economic activity.
Copyright protection provides benefits in the form of economic
rights which entitle the creators to control use of their literary and
artistic material in a number of ways such as making copies, performing
in public, broadcasting, use on-line, etc. and to obtain an
appropriate economic reward. Creators can therefore be rewarded
for their creativity and investment.
Copyright also gives moral rights to be identified as the creator or
author of certain kinds of material (known as the paternity right), and
object to the distortion and mutilation of it. An author's right
to object to the modification or derogatory action in
relation to his or her work is known as an integrity right.
Chapter 7 of the Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000 (No. 28 of 2000)
deals in greater detail with moral rights applicable in Ireland.