Copyright exceptions – ‘Fair dealing’

Copyright exceptions are limited circumstances where protected works can be copied without specific permission being sought from the rightsholder. Under international conventions, any such exceptions can be for economic rights only (not moral rights), must have a clearly defined specific purpose and must not adversely affect the creator’s commercial exploitation of their own work. European legislation [the Digital Single Market Directive 2019] seeking harmonisation of copyright law throughout the EU required certain exceptions to be implemented in the national law of member states.

Consequently, in Ireland’s Copyright & Related Rights Act the ‘fair dealing’ exceptions listed below apply to the copying/use of literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works, as well as film, sound recordings, and broadcast and cable programmes, that have already been lawfully made available to the public. (Sheet music is explicitly excluded from all the exceptions.) The guiding principle of the exceptions is that they must not unreasonably prejudice the interests of the owner of the copyright. 

In addition to the exception for education referred to throughout this guide to Use of Works, the Copyright & Related Rights Act includes exceptions for:

• Research and private study – this applies where study is self-directed and not part of a course of study at an educational institution, and is for non-commercial purposes
• Criticism or review
• News reporting
• Incidental inclusion, including quotation
• Caricature, parody or pastiche – so long as this does not cause distress or damage the reputation of the subject.

In all cases, copies made under the exceptions must be accompanied by a sufficient acknowledgement of the creator and source; this means identifying the creator by name, and the work concerned by its title or other description. 

[CRRA Sec. 50-52]