Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-24
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Nicole Ryan (SF), Administrative Panel

I echo what Senator McDowell said. It seems the Bill intends for revenues to be split twice, resulting in only a 25% share going to the performer, which simply is not fair. As we all know, Ireland has exported its music and songs all over the world. We are renowned for the quality of the performers we have. Surely, we do not want to devalue their contribution or the importance of the overall arts we offer. The Bill also looks at the need to recognise the importance of the collective management organisations, CMOs. It is entirely appropriate for CMOs, which are registered with the Controller of Intellectual Property, to act on behalf of the performer in cases where this is what the performer prefers.
The Bill also has to specify the calculation of the share of the individual performers would be carried out by a licensing body for performers' rights with the necessary credentials. In the event there is more than one such body and they cannot agree which one will carry out the calculations, the controller can designate the body to conduct the role. It is not appropriate that all performers would be compelled to go to the Circuit Court to dispute this. In cases where a performer is in dispute with a major record label, there is a very real danger the performer will just not follow through or pursue it because of the resources they are limited to in comparison with a massive label.
It is not a fair or equitable measure and I ask the Minister of State to again review the amendments to ensure a level playing field for all of the performers.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:41+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-24