Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Bill 2025: Report and Final Stages
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-21
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Aengus Ó Snodaigh (SF), Dublin South-Central

It is just strange. All of the other disputes concerning licensing arrangements under the Act will continue to be dealt with by the controller. That also seems to stray into adjudication. That is the concern. Only one part of dispute resolution is being shifted from the controller to the courts. Disputes under section 38 will still be dealt with by the controller. A difficulty arises under the doctrines of res judicata and issue estoppel in cases where repeated disputes as to the valuation of rights arise between different rights holders or classes of rights holders. An issue has arisen from the provisions of the Act in respect of the controller's ability to determine disputes between classes of rights holders as distinct from disputes between individual rights holders. It is an extremely unlikely scenario in the rights management environment but my amendment No. 3 deals with that issue. We are trying to predict eventualities. The amendments try to ensure there are no cases in which the controller will not have the necessary powers. As I have said, if the controller finds one way or another, the aggrieved party, if not satisfied, would still have the right to go to the courts. Rather than going first to the courts, which are already full, which cost money and which make awards, we should try to use the mechanisms that are already there. The fact they are there might be a reason not to go to a court but the controller now will not deal with these issues and people will probably go to the courts. There is a cost to the courts because they have to get in the expert advice required to adjudicate cases such as these.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-31T01:00:51+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-21