CISAC Distribution Technical Committee Dublin 18th - 19th May 1999 - Opening Address by Mr Tom Kitt, TD, Minister for Labour, Trade and Consumer Affairs
First of all, may I say how pleased I was to be able to accept the invitation to open this meeting of your Committee, and to welcome to Dublin representatives of authors' rights societies, literally, from every continent on the globe. In the midst of addressing the many learned and worthy presentations on your agenda, I do hope that you all will have the opportunity to sample some of the hospitality of our beautiful city, and that some of you at least may be able to take the opportunity to visit a little longer. May I wish every one of you a pleasant stay, and a "Cead Mile Failte" - a hundred thousand Irish welcomes.
I have often thought that authors' rights societies such as those represented by your confederation are much-misunderstood, and often unfairly maligned. This is regrettable, but hardly surprising, since the appreciation of the activities of such societies among the general public - and even among direct users of copyright materials - is often limited to a narrow awareness (more or less vague, depending on the circumstances) that authors' rights societies simply collect money in respect of the use of copyright materials. And that they do so unaccompanied by any sense of the benefits accruing to the economy and culture of the world at large from your activities.
I have had occasion recently, in our parliament, to remark on the importance of the function performed by authors' rights societies in the system of protection for copyright and related rights. Without such associations or societies, many rights could not be effectively exercised, since the only effective way for most rightsholders to exercise such rights is on a collective basis through a collecting society. This is never so true as in the area which, I understand, is one of primary interest to your confederation - that of the copyright rights of authors and composers of music.
In the world of mass communications and mass marketing of musical products, the chain of production between the composer who writes a piece of original music and the listener for whose enjoyment the music is ultimately written is, typically, long, complex in structure, and sometimes tenuous. The links in this chain range from what are now regarded as the conventional, such as broadcasts and sound recordings, to the as-yet more exotic but increasingly important media such as those provided by the Internet and the World-Wide Web. Indeed, to suggest that even the supposedly conventional media of transmission and dissemination represent a simple environment for the assertion of authors' rights in music would be highly misleading, in view of the complex cross-border issues that can arise as a result of the transnational aspects of such media as satellite links in broadcasting and cable programme networks.
In this situation, collective administration of rights is, for all but a small minority of artists, simply the only effective way they can go to secure a fair reward for their creative labours. Further, the strongly international nature of the music business - and indeed of copyright-based industry in general - means that this collective administration must have a strong international dimension, in order to ensure that authors and composers reap a just reward for their creativity, thereby ensuring that the community as a whole continues to enjoy the products of this creativity. I understand that in the case of musical creation in particular, but for other forms also, much of this vital international dimension is supplied by the work of your confederation.
Some of you will be aware of the fact that we in Ireland are living through a crucial period in the development of Irish intellectual property law, and of Irish copyright law in particular. One of my major ministerial responsibilities at the moment is that of sponsoring a new Copyright and Related Rights Bill through Ireland's parliament, the Oireachtas. This Bill is one of the largest non-consolidation Bills ever to be presented to the Oireachtas and will, when enacted, replace legislation, the Principal Act of which dates from 1963. Indeed, that Act itself is closely based on the UK Copyright Act of 1956.
Given the extent of change in the global economy in general, and in the technologies available for the recording, transmission and dissemination of copyright works in particular, the delay in reviewing and replacing such elderly legislation in the area of copyright was clearly most unfortunate and indeed inexcusable. The fact that the Irish courts have generally been enlightened and sensible in applying the terms of the Copyright Act 1963 to conditions increasingly removed from the technological and economic context of its origins has, at least, meant that the legislation has remained generally workable. Nonetheless, serious difficulties existed and, to a very considerable extent, continue to exist. For example, penalties for criminal offences in the copyright field under the old legislation remained unrealistically low, even following an update in 1987. Also, the structure of evidentiary presumptions made it very difficult for some plaintiffs to sustain even highly meritorious claims, as they allowed defendants to base their defences primarily on mere denials of matters as simple as the subsistence of copyright in the most obvious of copyright works, all of which denials had to be answered by the plaintiff not only with written, but with oral evidence. Clearly, this latter burden was particularly onerous for plaintiffs in complex cases with an international dimension.
The problems of penalties and presumptions were to a substantial extent solved by the enactment of the Intellectual Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1998 last July. This Act, a small preliminary to the present Bill, increased penalties for copyright offences very substantially, and shifted the evidentiary burden in civil copyright cases substantially in favour of plaintiff rightsholders, including authors' rights societies acting in this role. The present Bill has much more ambitious objectives, involving as it will a comprehensive modernisation of Irish copyright law which will afford rightsholders protection in the context of a modern, effective and efficient legislative framework, fully in line with all requirements of European Union and international law in the field of copyright and related rights. In this context, I would like to thank the Irish Music Rights Organisation, your Confederation's affiliate in this country, for their positive contribution to the extensive process of consultation which preceded the publication of the Bill. Neither I nor my Department would claim to the fount of all wisdom in copyright matters and, while we may not always find ourselves in agreement with the perspectives of IMRO or other authors' rights societies in such matters, positive and energetic debate on a legislative proposal of this importance can only help us to arrive at a better final outcome.
I would like to comment briefly on one matter which is, naturally, of the greatest interest to authors' rights societies in general - that of exceptions to copyright protection. Many of you will be particularly aware of the fact that this is an area of the highest interest in the European Union at the moment, as discussions on a proposed Directive on Copyright in the Information Society continue.
In the Copyright and Related Rights Bill, the Irish Government proposes to re-enact, in a modernised and clarified form, the extremely restricted regime of exceptions already provided for under existing copyright legislation. These exceptions include technical exceptions such as that governing incidental inclusion of works, as well as a range of minor substantive exceptions provided for in the public interest.
Of course, I fully accept that any exception to copyright protection must be specific, limited and incapable of interfering with the normal exploitation of copyright works, in accordance with the standards set by international copyright law. Indeed, the representations of copyright rights associations, including the Irish Music Rights Organisation, have been of assistance in the process of achieving the necessary tight focus to the scheme of exceptions included in the Bill. In this connection, I would like to reiterate the support of the Irish Government for the efforts of the Irish Music Rights Organisation and its European and international associates to protect the rights of authors and composers against the damage caused by exceptions which can, by no stretch of the imagination, be described as "specific, limited, or incapable of interfering with the normal exploitation of works". In United States law, the "Aiken" and "post-Aiken" exceptions in favour of the playing of music in certain commercial premises are notable examples, and we fully endorse efforts currently underway to have them removed.
However, I have to say that the Irish Government is not at present in a position, for example, to accept formulations of the draft Directive which would seriously undermine the strictly limited exceptions to copyright which it is proposed to maintain in Irish law. Some of these exceptions are technical necessities. Others form a small but important part of the essential balance between rightsholders' interests and the interests of users of copyright material as that balance has developed in Ireland. Nor would we consider it at all wise to assume limitations on the right of EU Member States to adapt their regimes of exceptions to meet new challenges generated by future and unforeseeable developments in the Information Society. I also understand that Ireland is far from alone among Member States in having difficulties on these points.
Returning to the activities of authors' rights associations in the areas of licensing and the collection of royalties, I am sure it will be accepted as essential in this as in all other areas of business that parties conduct themselves reasonably and courteously towards each other. Indeed, this is all the more important in an area such as the exercise of copyright interests, where the obligations involved are often very imperfectly understood by users of copyright materials. In this connection, I very much welcome the recent demarcation agreement between the Irish Music Rights Organisation and Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, the principal association of players of Irish traditional music, which should go a long way to ensuring that unnecessary and damaging disputes within the music community on the often difficult question of the copyright status of traditional music and music in the traditional idiom are avoided. This is a notable example of good and responsible practice on the part of an authors' rights association, which encourages me to appeal to all such associations to persevere in what is, in general, their reasonable, courteous and businesslike approach to the conduct of their business. Such an approach must be conducive to the efficient and effective achievement of their objectives on behalf of their members.
One area of the relations between copyright rights associations and users of copyright materials which can cause difficulties is the problem often experienced by the latter group - the "users" - in obtaining information on the former. It is for this reason that I am proposing in the Copyright and Related Rights Bill to introduce registration schemes for licensing bodies dealing with copyright, performers' property rights and the database right. These registers, which will be kept by the Controller of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, will provide users of copyright materials and the public at large with easy access to basic information on the registered societies, including the names of their officers, the classes of rightsholders which they represent, and the scales of charges which they apply.
The scheme of registration will be voluntary, and it would not be my wish that any element of compulsion should enter the process. I understand, however, that copyright rights associations which have been in touch with my Department on this matter have generally accepted the value of the proposed registration system in improving public knowledge of copyright rights in general, and public appreciation of the role and value of the societies themselves in particular. In addition, it should also assist in reducing the suspicion of their role which many members of the public feel towards these sometimes mysterious bodies through a formal exercise in transparency. I am confident, therefore, that while voluntary, the new registers will attract a comprehensive range of collecting societies to register, and will be successful in their intended purpose of informing the public.
As I do not propose to hold you any longer from your work, I would like to conclude by wishing you, again, the very best in your work which contributes so greatly to the welfare of authors and composers and, in supporting their creativity, to the welfare of the global economy and the community as a whole.
