Improving the online licensing of music across the EU This directive aims at improving the functioning of copyright collective management organisations. It also makes it easier to grant EU-wide licensing of authors’ rights in regard to music that is made available online. Directive 2014/26/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on collective management of copyright and related rights and […]
Copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market Directive (EU) 2019/790 on copyright in the Digital Single Market WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE DIRECTIVE? The directive has 3 main objectives: to adapt certain key exceptions to copyright to the digital and the cross-border environment; to improve licensing practices and ensure wider access to content; and to achieve a well-functioning marketplace for copyright. Key […]
Range of Remedies A breach of confidence is enforced would be by way of a claim to the High Court (or Circuit Court) for damages (compensation), an account of profits and/ or an injunction. Damages are compensation for the loss that can be demonstrated in financial terms. An account of profits is the benefit of profits which can be shown to have been earned using […]
Overview Apart from patent and copyright protection, there exists common-law protection for confidential information and trade secrets. No registration is required. As with copyright, it arises by falling inside the criteria. There is no hard and fast distinction between a trade secret and confidential information. A trade secret is a subset of confidential information. Not all confidential information is protectable, but trade secrets and some […]
Overview An EU directive and the Irish regulations made under it have provided statutory-based firmer legal protection for the types of trade secrets and confidential information that are protected at common law. It is nowhere near strong or useful as patent protection. It applies to trade secrets which are more than confidential information which is also protectable. Under the preexisting case law on confidential information, […]
Non-Disclosure Agreement A confidentiality or Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) is a legal agreement that signifies a confidential relationship between two parties. In signing this agreement, the party receiving the information promises that he/she/it will not disclose defined confidential information / IP to any outside party. If the NDA is breached, the other party may seek court action and sue for monetary damages. It is a basic […]
Rights Conferred Patents confer a number of legal rights on their owner. The rights confer and protect the economic benefits of ownership. In broad terms, the patent holder has the exclusive right to exploit and use the patent and license others to do so. A patent while it is in force shall confer on its proprietor the right to prevent all third parties not having […]
Overview A trade mark is a sign which identifies and distinguishes goods or services as belonging to a particular producer. It serves to identify the product or service and gives customers assurance in relation to its origin. The civil wrong of passing off protects goodwill, brands and reputation. However, the registration of a trade mark significantly enhances protection and eases enforcement. Any kind of distinctive […]
How IT Protected Computer programs and software are protected by the law of copyright.An EU Directive in 1993 required the protection of computer programs under copyright protection law. Although they were already recognised under Irish copyright law, the 1994 Regulations provided specifically for the protection of computer programmes by way of copyright and related rights. The instructions in the program are set in code or […]
Duty of Confidence A duty of confidence arises when confidential information comes to a person’s knowledge in circumstances where he knows or has agreed that the information is confidential and that it would be just in all the circumstances that he should be precluded from disclosing it. This may arise from a transaction, a relationship or other circumstances. The courts will apply equitable principles to […]
Rights Concerned The owner of the copyright has the exclusive right to undertake or permit others to undertake acts restricted by copyright law. Copyright is infringed where a person undertakes or authorises another to undertake a restricted action without the consent of the rightful owner. The restricted acts include copying the work, making the work available to the public, making an adaptation and copying or […]
Paris Convention The Paris Convention on the protection of industrial property rights was an early Treaty on the international recognition of trademarks, service marks, trade names, indication of services and the suppression of unfair competition. Under the Paris Convention, a priority claim entitled a claimant who had filed a trademark application in a Convention country to file and claim priority in other Convention countries within […]
Topographies EU directive provides for the protection of the topographies of semiconductors. These are the physical hardware at the lowest physical level within the computer. Semiconductors have properties of allowing for and “on” or “off” mode and they ultimately provide the very basic building block of hardware. A semiconductor product is a final or intermediate form of product consisting of a body of material which […]
Enforcement of Copyright There are a number of mechanisms for the enforcement of copyright. There are both civil actions for infringement and criminal sanctions. An owner of copyright and an exclusive licensee may take infringement proceedings. The right may be exercised by the holder of the copyright. This may be the original copyright holder or an assignee. Certain rights may be exercised by a person […]
Nature of Trade Mark A Trade Mark is a sign which is capable of being represented graphically and capable of distinguishing the goods and services of one business from those of another. It may include words, designs, letters, numbers, shapes or patterns provided that such signs are capable of being represented on the register in a manner which enables the Controller and the public to […]
Earlier Mark A trademark protects against the use of an identical mark for identical goods or services and against similar or identical marks for similar or identical goods or services. Where the identical marks are for identical goods and services, there is no need to prove a likelihood of confusion. In the case of similar or identical trademarks for similar or identical goods and services, […]
Defences The use of a valid trade mark in relation to goods and services covered by them is a defence to infringement proceedings. Accordingly, a registered trade mark shall not be infringed by using another registered trade mark in relation to goods or services for which the latter is registered. This defence would not be available if the registration as a trademark is invalidated. Own […]
Action for Infringement A trademark allows the owner the exclusive use to use the trademark in the country in which it is registered. Unlike the case with a civil action for passing off, it is not necessary to establish a reputation or likely loss Proceedings to restrain unlawful use may not be brought before the publication of registration. An Irish trademark gives exclusivity only in […]
Informations Society Directive The Information Society Directive 2001 facilitated so-called information society services. These are principally services provided over the Internet. It seeks to harmonise key aspects of the right on an EU-wide basis. The purpose is that once the service is lawfully provided, no further terms and conditions can be applied by states to the provision of such services cross-border. The Information Society Directive […]
Nature of Right A registered trade mark is personal property. Where two or more persons are registered as joint owners of a trade mark, the rights to the use of the trade mark are vested in those persons as if those rights were vested in a single person. The rights of any one of the persons who are registered as joint owners of a trade […]
Duration and Renewal A trade mark shall be registered for a period of ten years from the date of registration. Registration may be renewed for further periods of ten years. Subject to payment of the prescribed renewal fee, the registration of a trade mark may be renewed at the request of the owner. Where the request is submitted or the fees paid for only some […]
Application for Registration An application for registration of a trade mark is made to the Controller in a prescribed form. The application must state that the trade mark is being used, by or with the applicant’s consent, in relation to the goods or services specified in the application or that the applicant has a bona fide intention that it should be so used. The application […]
Designation of Orign EU law protects geographical indications and indications of origins for agricultural products and foodstuffs. European-wide regulations govern the protection of designations of origin. The origin must relate to a place or region and agricultural products and foodstuffs. The quality or characteristics of the product must be due to the geographical environment with its inherent natural and human factors employed in the production […]
General Trade marks legislation allows for certification marks in relation to goods and services. These may identify the material used, place of origin, mode of manufacture, quality, accuracy or other relevant characteristics. The general requirements for a trademark apply. It need not, however, have the characteristics of being capable of distinguishing between goods and services which are certified and those that are not. The mark […]
Owner’s Rights The owner of the registered trade mark has the exclusive rights in the trade mark. Such rights shall be infringed by the use of that trade mark in the State without the owner’s consent. Restricted acts, if done without that consent, constitute an infringement of the owner’s rights The owner of that registered trade mark is entitled to prevent all third parties from […]
EU Industrial Designs The EU industrial design right is in similar terms to that under the domestic industrial design. It provides for a unitary EU-wide industrial design. it has effect throughout the European Union automatically without being recognised specifically in particular states. The European Union design right is administered by the European Union intellectual property office. Applications are made to it for registration of the […]
Exclusive Rights The owner of the copyright has the exclusive right to undertake or permit others to undertake acts restricted by copyright law. Copyright is infringed when a person undertakes or authorises another to undertake a restricted action without the consent of the rightful owner. The restricted acts include copying the work, making the work available to the public, making an adaptation and copying or […]
Distributing Infringing Works A person infringes the copyright in a work where he or she without the licence of the copyright owner— sells, rents or lends, or offers or exposes for sale, rental or loan, imports into the State, otherwise than for his or her private and domestic use, in the course of a business, trade or profession has in his or her possession, custody […]
Nature of Rights Moral rights are the author’s personal rights. The purpose of the right is to protect against damage to the author’s reputation. The full extent of the rights is unclear. The rights continue to exist, notwithstanding the transfer of the copyright to a third party. The right continues until at least the expiry of the copyright itself. The right in relation to false […]
Copyright Libraries The publisher of any book first published in the State shall, within one month after the publication, deliver, at his or her own expense, a copy of the book to each of the following— the authority having control of the National Library of Ireland, the authority having control of the library of Trinity College, Dublin, the authority having control of the library of […]
Performance Rights Performers’ rights were not protected under the Berne Convention. They are protected under the Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations (1961). This was expanded by the Geneva Treaty on Performance Rights and Phonogram Producers (1996). Performance rights are subject to separate similar provisions to those for copyright for works under the Copyright act. Performance rights cover […]
Programmes & Copyright The original EU directive requiring copyright protection for the programmes was updated in 2009. The directive makes clear that computer programmes include programmes in any form, including those incorporated into hardware. It includes preparatory design work leading to the development of a computer programme provided that the nature of the preparatory work is such that the programme can result from it at […]
Original Work The work must be an original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work. Originality means that the work must be the expression of inventive thought. It is not the idea that is protected. The expression of the idea is protected. The concept of an original work as interpreted by the European courts differs from the Irish and British formulations. There is a difference in […]
Extension of Copyright Originally, copyright protected only literary, musical,l dramatic and artistic works by authors. The Copyright Act 1963 introduced protection for certain similar neighbouring or entrepreneurial works. Various EU directives broadened these protections over time. This is reflected in the Copyright Act 2000 and regulations based on directives made before and since. These rights are based on commercial interests rather than artistic work. The […]
Collecting Societies A unique feature of copyright legislation is the existence of licensing and collection bodies. The legislation facilitates licensing bodies and registers them. The collecting societies have the legal right to collect on behalf of members. There are collecting societies in respect of certain categories of copyright. There is a register of copyright licensing bodies. There are approximately a dozen registered licensing and collecting […]
Property The Copyright Act confers ownership of copyright on the author. This expression is used both in relation to the traditional forms of copyright protected works by individuals and to proprietorship of the newer economic rights type of copyright. Copyright may be owned by individuals or corporates. It is a form of property protected by the Constitution. It can be assigned licensed or may pass […]
Databases Databases are a collection of data or other material arranged systematically and individually accessible by electronic or other means. It may be electronic or in tangible form. A database may refer to any materials. It may be electronic or manual. It may be a collection of data works or other materials. It may be written, visual or graphic. It prospectively covers a wide range […]