Section 17 of the Irish Copyright Act 1963 provides protection against both the direct and indirect reproduction of phonograms.
However, section 13 of the Copyright Act 1963 provides for special exceptions in respect of records of musical works. This is an area which is being carefully looked at in preparing Ireland's new copyright legislation. This new piece of legislation will cover all of Ireland's international obligations.
Section 43 of the Copyright Act 1963 confers power on the Irish Government to extend benefit of this Act to other countries. The Copyright (Foreign Countries) Order 1996 S.I. No. 36 of 1996 (which provides, inter alia, protection to phonograms) extends copyright protection to countries which have ratified or acceded to the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization Done at Marrakesh on 15th day of April 1994.
Digital transmission in the context of interactive services was not part of the negotiations which took place during the establishment of the TRIPS Agreement.
