Copyright Protection

In Ireland, there is no registration procedure for owners of a copyright work.Basically the act of creating a work also creates the copyright, which then subsists in the physical expression of the work. Copyrights are protected by law and illegal use of these rights can be contested in the Courts, the technical term for this misuse is infringement. The legislation provides for criminal offences and consequently infringers could face both civil liability and criminal convictions. Professional advice should be sought by copyright owners with regard to the options and the remedies available where infringement of their work occurs.It is most important that the originator of a work can show subsequently when the work and the consequential copyright were created as it may be necessary to commence or defend infringement proceedings, at some later stage. One way of doing this is to deposit a copy of the work with an acknowledged representative who may be a bank or solicitor in such a way as to allow the date and time of the deposit to be recorded or notarised. Alternatively, one may send a copy of the work to oneself by registered post (ensuring a clear date stamp on the envelope), retaining the original receipt of posting and leaving the envelope containing the copyright work unopened thus establishing that the work existed at that date and time.