Today marks the beginning of the online consultations for the work of the Copyright Review Committee, and their Consultation Paper which examines Ireland’s current Copyright legislative framework to identify the areas of legislation that might create barriers to innovation.
The Minister for Research and Innovation Mr Sean Sherlock TD, launched the Consultation Paper and the second stage of the Copyright Review Committee on February 29 last. Today he welcomed the addition of the online mechanism which will allow even wider participation in the review process: “I am … grateful to the Irish Internet Association for providing an online mechanism to collate its members’ views and to gather the views of others on the Paper… The wider the consultation on the Committee’s work is, the better the outcome will be.”
The Minister announced the launch of the new online questionnaire prepared by the committee which invites interested parties to answer questions based on the various chapters of the Consultation Paper. With the input and interaction of these interested parties the Minister hopes that Ireland’s Copyright Laws can “strike the correct balance between encouraging innovation and protecting creativity.”
Interested parties can view the work of the committee at http://www.djei.ie/science/ipr/crc.htm, where they will also find details of how to contact the committee, guidelines on how to make a submission, a copy of the Consultation Paper and details of any upcoming events relating to the review. All submissions must be received by close of business on Friday 13 April 2012.
The Copyright Review Committee was established by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mr. Richard Bruton T.D in May 2011. It is charged with examining current copyright legislation in order to identify any areas that might create barriers to innovation. The committee must then draw up a list of recommendations on how these areas can be amended.
The committee is comprised of;
Dr. Eoin O’Dell, (Chair of the Copyright Review Committee), Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Law, Trinity College Dublin;
Patricia McGovern, Chairman and Head of the Intellectual Property Department and the Corporate and Commercial Department, DFMG Solicitors; and
Prof. Steve Hedley, Dean of the Faculty of Law, UCC.