Irish Copyright Legislation

The Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000 Links to external website

came into effect on and from
1 January 2001. The general objectives of the Act are as follows:

to put in place a modern, effective, efficient, technology-neutral regime of statutory protection for copyright and related rights, including provision for civil remedies and criminal penalties fully sufficient to deter copyright theft, bearing in mind the economic and cultural significance of such theft in the context of the Information Society;
to transpose into Irish law a number of EU directives in the field of copyright and related rights;
to bring Irish law into conformity with all obligations incurred under international law on copyright and related rights, in particular, under the Berne Convention (Paris Act), the Rome Convention, the TRIPs Agreement, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Copyright Treaty, and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, and
to provide, for the first time in Irish law, for tailor-made regimes of civil protection for performers' rights, rights in performances and databases in line with the best EU and international standards.

Legislation