European Communities (Term of Protection of Copyright) Regulations, 1995

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Year: 1995
• Citation: IR SI 158/1995

S.I. No. 158 of 1995.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (TERM OF PROTECTION OF COPYRIGHT) REGULATIONS, 1995.

I, RICHARD BRUTON, Minister for Enterprise and Employment, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), and for the purpose of giving effect to Council Directive No. 93/98/EEC of 29 October, 1993 harmonising the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights;1 hereby make the following Regulations. 1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Term of Protection of Copyright), Regulations, 1995.

(2) These Regulations, shall come into operation on the 1st day of July, 1995. 2. In these Regulations:

"the Act of 1963" means the Copyright Act, 1963 (No. 10 of 1963);

"the Berne Convention" means the Berne Convention for the protection of literary and artistic works;

"the Directive" means Council Directive 93/98/EEC of 29 October, 1993 harmonising the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights;

"Directive 92/100/EEC" means Council Directive 92/100/EEC of 19 November, 1992 on rental right and lending right and on certain rights related to copyright in the field of intellectual property;2

"protection" and "term of protection" have the same meaning as they have in the Directive and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

1 O.J. No. L290, 24.11.1993, p.9.

2 O.J. No. L346, 27.11.1992, p.61.

"the Rome Convention" means the International Convention for the protection of performers, producers of phonograms and broadcasting organisations. 3. Notwithstanding subsections (4) and (5) of section 8, subsections (5), (6) and (7) of section 9 and subsections (3) and (4) of section 51 of the Act of 1963, the term of copyright subsisting in a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work shall be the lifetime of the author of the work and a period of seventy years after the author's death, irrespective of the date when the work is published or otherwise lawfully made available to the public. 4. (1) Notwithstanding section 15 (2) (a) of the Act of 1963, where a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work is anonymous or pseudonymous any copyright subsisting in the work by virtue of section 8 or 9 of the Act of 1963 shall continue to subsist for a period of seventy years after the work is published or otherwise lawfully made available to the public.

(2) Without prejudice to section 15 (2) (b) of the Act of 1963, where the pseudonym adopted by the author leaves no doubt as to the author's identity, or if the author discloses his or her identity during the period referred to in paragraph (1) of this Regulation, the term of protection applicable shall be that specified in Regulation 3 of these Regulations. 5. Notwithstanding subsection (5) of section 8, subsections (6) and (7) of section 9 and subsections (3) and (4) of section 51 of the Act of 1963, where the term of protection of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work is not calculated from the death of the author or authors of the work and the work has not been published or otherwise lawfully made available to the public within 70 years of its creation the protection shall terminate. 6. Notwithstanding subsection (2) of section 18 of the Act of 1963, copyright subsisting in a cinematograph film shall continue to subsist until the end of the period of 70 years after the death of the last of the following persons to survive, namely—

( a ) the principal director,

( b ) the author of the screenplay,

( c ) the author of the dialogue,

( d ) the composer of music specifically created for use in the cinematograph film. 7. (1) Notwithstanding section 17 (2) of the Act of 1963, the term of protection as respects the rights of a maker of a sound recording in such a recording or, as the case may be, of a person referred to in section 17 (3) of that Act in such a recording, shall expire 50 years after the sound recording is made.

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of this Regulation, if the sound recording is lawfully published or lawfully communicated to the public during the period referred to in the said paragraph, the term of protection as respects the rights in that recording shall expire 50 years from the date of the first such publication or the first such communication to the public whichever is the earlier.

(3) Notwithstanding section 19 (2) of the Act of 1963, the term of protection as respects the...