Selected year snapshot
For 1990, the active event in this file is Copyright Act 1963.
100%
Current rationale
The Copyright Act 1963 (No. 10 of 1963) was the copyright statute in force in Ireland on 1990-01-01. Section 12 of the 1963 Act provided a fair dealing exception for the purposes of research or private study. The term 'fair dealing' in the common-law tradition covers any act restricted by copyright (not only reproduction), and the provision was not limited to specific user classes or specific categories of works. This maps to GREEN: fair dealing for research/private study, covering any use of any work by any user. However, the full verbatim text of Section 12 of the 1963 Act could not be retrieved via web search — only the existence and general scope of the provision could be confirmed from the WIPO Lex record and secondary references. The classification is based on the well-established structure of the 1963 Act's fair dealing provision, which followed the UK Copyright Act 1956 model.
Exceptions considered
Fair dealing with a work for the purposes of research or private study — covers any act restricted by copyright, any work, any user
Fair dealing for criticism or review
Law changes
Copyright Act 1963
Baseline · Effective 1964-09-01
100%
Relevant section: Section 12
Dates: Effective 1964-09-01 · Enacted 1963-07-10
Why this score
The Copyright Act 1963 (No. 10 of 1963) was the copyright statute in force in Ireland on 1990-01-01. Section 12 of the 1963 Act provided a fair dealing exception for the purposes of research or private study. The term 'fair dealing' in the common-law tradition covers any act restricted by copyright (not only reproduction), and the provision was not limited to specific user classes or specific categories of works. This maps to GREEN: fair dealing for research/private study, covering any use of any work by any user. However, the full verbatim text of Section 12 of the 1963 Act could not be retrieved via web search — only the existence and general scope of the provision could be confirmed from the WIPO Lex record and secondary references. The classification is based on the well-established structure of the 1963 Act's fair dealing provision, which followed the UK Copyright Act 1956 model.
Exceptions considered
Fair dealing with a work for the purposes of research or private study — covers any act restricted by copyright, any work, any user
Fair dealing for criticism or review
Source links
Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000
Relevant update · Effective 2001-01-01
100%
Relevant section: Sections 50, 51, 63
Dates: Effective 2001-01-01 · Enacted 2000-11-16
Why this score
Section 50 of the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 provides a fair dealing exception for research or private study. The definition of 'fair dealing' in s.50(4) is 'the making use of' the listed works — this covers any act restricted by copyright, not only reproduction. The exception applies to literary, dramatic, musical, artistic works, sound recordings, films, broadcasts, cable programmes, non-electronic original databases, and typographical arrangements — essentially all categories of works protected by copyright. It is open to any user (not restricted to institutions or individuals acting privately — 'research' and 'private study' are separate purposes). The term 'fair dealing' in Irish/UK-tradition copyright law covers any exclusive right. Computer programs are excluded from fair dealing by s.50(5), but this does not change the classification because the exception still permits full-work reproduction and use for all other categories of works. The lawful-availability requirement in s.50(4) is a classification-neutral factor. Section 63 provides additional library/archive copying provisions. Uses: any use ('making use of'). Works: all categories except computer programs. Users: any user. This maps to GREEN.
Exceptions considered
Fair dealing with works for the purposes of research or private study — covers 'making use of' works (any exclusive right), all work types except computer programs, any user
Fair dealing for the purposes of criticism or review
Copying by librarians and archivists — permits librarians/archivists to supply copies for research or private study under specified conditions
Original text
50.—(1) Fair dealing with a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, sound recording, film, broadcast, cable programme, or non-electronic original database, for the purposes of research or private study, shall not infringe any copyright in the work. (2) Fair dealing with a typographical arrangement of a published edition for the purposes of research or private study shall not infringe any copyright in the arrangement. (3) The copying by a person, other than the researcher or private student, is not fair dealing where— (a) in the case of a librarian or archivist, he or she does anything which is not permitted under section 63, or (b) in any other case, the person copying knows or has reason to believe that the copying will result in copies of substantially the same material being provided to more than one person at approximately the same time and for substantially the same purpose. (4) In this Part, "fair dealing" means the making use of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, film, sound recording, broadcast, cable programme, non-electronic original database or typographical arrangement of a published edition which has already been lawfully made available to the public, for a purpose and to an extent which will not unreasonably prejudice the interests of the owner of the copyright. (5) In this Part, the following acts are not fair dealing— (a) converting a computer program expressed in a low level computer language into a version expressed in a higher level computer language, or (b) copying a computer program in an incidental manner in the course of converting that program.
Source links
European Union (Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Single Market) Regulations 2021
Relevant update · Effective 2021-11-12
100%
Relevant section: Regulation 3 (inserting Sections 106A–106D into the 2000 Act)
Dates: Effective 2021-11-12 · Enacted 2021-11-12
Why this score
S.I. No. 567 of 2021 transposed the EU Digital Single Market Directive (2019/790) into Irish law by inserting new sections into the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000. The new provisions include a TDM exception (transposing Articles 3 and 4 of the DSM Directive). Section 106A permits reproductions and extractions of lawfully accessible works for the purposes of text and data mining by research organisations and cultural heritage institutions (Article 3 transposition). Section 106B permits reproductions and extractions for TDM by any person with lawful access, subject to a rights-holder opt-out (Article 4 transposition). These TDM provisions add to the existing fair dealing exception in Section 50, which remains in force. The overall classification remains GREEN because Section 50 (fair dealing for research or private study covering any use of any work by any user) was already GREEN, and the new TDM provisions further strengthen the position. The TDM provisions on their own would be GREEN as well (covering reproduction and extraction — which includes communication of results — for any user under s.106B). The verbatim text of the inserted sections could not be fully retrieved via web search, but the structure and scope are confirmed from the statutory instrument record.
Exceptions considered
Fair dealing for research or private study — unchanged, covers any use of any work (except computer programs) by any user
TDM exception for research organisations and cultural heritage institutions — permits reproductions and extractions for TDM purposes
General TDM exception for any person with lawful access, subject to rights-holder opt-out — permits reproductions and extractions
Fair dealing for criticism or review
Copying by librarians and archivists for research or private study
Source links
Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000 (as amended)
Current law confirmation · Effective 2025-01-01
100%
Relevant section: Sections 50, 51, 63, 106A, 106B
Dates: Effective 2025-01-01
Why this score
As of 2025, the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 (as amended) remains in force. The most permissive research-relevant exception is Section 50 (fair dealing for research or private study). Analysis across three dimensions: (1) Uses: 'fair dealing' is defined as 'the making use of' works — this covers any act restricted by copyright, including reproduction, communication, and making available, not only copying. (2) Works: the exception covers literary, dramatic, musical, artistic works, sound recordings, films, broadcasts, cable programmes, non-electronic original databases, and typographical arrangements — essentially all categories of copyright works. Computer programs are excluded from fair dealing by s.50(5), but this is a narrow carve-out that does not change the overall classification. (3) Users: the exception is open to any person — 'research' and 'private study' are stated as separate purposes, and neither is restricted to a particular class of user. The provision is not qualified by 'private' or 'personal' in a way that restricts the user class for research purposes. Additionally, TDM-specific exceptions in Sections 106A and 106B (inserted by S.I. No. 567 of 2021) provide further permissions for text and data mining. The non-commercial restriction in s.106A and the opt-out mechanism in s.106B are classification-neutral factors. The lawful-availability requirement in s.50(4) is also classification-neutral. Overall classification: GREEN.
Exceptions considered
Fair dealing for research or private study — 'making use of' works (any exclusive right), all work types except computer programs, any user
Fair dealing for criticism or review — covers any use for criticism/review with sufficient acknowledgement
Copying by librarians and archivists — permits supply of copies to researchers under specified conditions
TDM exception for research organisations and cultural heritage institutions — reproductions and extractions for TDM of lawfully accessible works for scientific research purposes
General TDM exception — reproductions and extractions for TDM by any person with lawful access, subject to rights-holder opt-out
Original text
50.—(1) Fair dealing with a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, sound recording, film, broadcast, cable programme, or non-electronic original database, for the purposes of research or private study, shall not infringe any copyright in the work. (2) Fair dealing with a typographical arrangement of a published edition for the purposes of research or private study shall not infringe any copyright in the arrangement. (3) The copying by a person, other than the researcher or private student, is not fair dealing where— (a) in the case of a librarian or archivist, he or she does anything which is not permitted under section 63, or (b) in any other case, the person copying knows or has reason to believe that the copying will result in copies of substantially the same material being provided to more than one person at approximately the same time and for substantially the same purpose. (4) In this Part, "fair dealing" means the making use of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, film, sound recording, broadcast, cable programme, non-electronic original database or typographical arrangement of a published edition which has already been lawfully made available to the public, for a purpose and to an extent which will not unreasonably prejudice the interests of the owner of the copyright. (5) In this Part, the following acts are not fair dealing— (a) converting a computer program expressed in a low level computer language into a version expressed in a higher level computer language, or (b) copying a computer program in an incidental manner in the course of converting that program.