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Category: Copyright

What should, and should not, be in a National Anthem Bill?

25 July, 201614 September, 2020
| No Comments
| Copyright, National Anthem

Harp via wikipedia and music notes via pixabayThis is a call for help. I would like suggestions as to what should, and should not, be in a National Anthem Bill – either in the comments below, via the contact form on this blog, by email, on a postcard, or even by means of carrier pigeon (or messenger raven) …

In four recent posts (here, here, here, and here) I’ve been looking at various issues around the national anthem. The context has been Senator Mark Daly‘s National Anthem (Protection of Copyright and Related Rights) (Amendment) (No 2) Bill 2016, but the analysis has ranged much more widely than that. And it has become clear to me that there are lots of gaps in the story of our national anthem. Some of those gaps could be filled by legislation, and so I am trying to work out what that legislation might provide.

I am conscious that, to a man with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail; and to a lawyer, every problem looks like it can be solved with legislation. A hammer isn’t always the solution to DIY problems, and legislation isn’t always the solution to social problems. So, I want to identify not only the issues around the anthem that could admit of a legislative solution, but also the issues where legislation would be unsuitable or ill-advised.…

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Copyright and the National Anthem – Bonus Links

19 July, 201624 September, 2016
| 3 Comments
| Cinema, television and theatre, Copyright, National Anthem

Bonus, via flickrMy last three posts (here, here, here) have looked at some copyright issues around the national anthem. Their immediate context was Senator Mark Daly‘s National Anthem (Protection of Copyright and Related Rights) (Amendment) (No 2) Bill 2016 (effectively reviving a Bill that he had introduced into the last Seanad earlier in the year). To provide a little lighter reading on the topic, here are 4 sets of bonus links about the copyright, the anthem, or both.

Bonus 1: Alex Marshall (blog | twitter), author of Republic or Death!: Travels in Search of National Anthems (Penguin | Amazon), writing in the Irish Times (h/t Alex’s blog), put “The Soldier’s Song” into the context of other national anthems. It’s a very entertaining piece. While he bemoans the relative obscurity of Peader Kearney and Patrick Heeney, he consigns Liam Ó Rinn to oblivion – he finishes the piece with the first line of “Amhrán na bhFiann”, but he doesn’t name-check Ó Rinn at all!

Bonus 2: I was on the the Marian Finucane show on RTE Radio 1 the Sunday morning before last (listen here), on The Last Word with Matt Cooper on TodayFM the following Monday evening (listen here), and on the Shaun Doherty Show on Highland Radio the following Wednesday morning (listen here until the end of the week).…

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Copyright and the National Anthem – preventing a tangled future, avoiding another gap of danger

13 July, 201614 October, 2017
| 7 Comments
| Censorship, Copyright, National Anthem

Wilhelmus, via WikipediaA national anthem is a hymn or song expressing patriotic sentiment, from prayers for a monarch, to allusions to nationally important uprisings, to expressions of national feeling. It is usually recognised by a nation’s government as the official national song, though it often emerges by convention through use by the people. “Kimigayo” is the Japanese national anthem, and its lyrics are the oldest text of a national anthem in the world, dating from an anonymous ninth century poem (though the anthem was not formally legislatively established until 1999). The oldest musical setting of an anthem still in use is the “Wilhelmus“, the Dutch national anthem (an early version of which is pictured above left). It was written between 1568 and 1572 during the Dutch Revolt against Spanish rule; and, although it was the de facto Dutch anthem for almost four centuries thereafter, it was only officially adopted in 1932.

Given their antiquity, there can be no copyright issues with the Japanese or Dutch anthems. The Irish national anthem, on the other hand, is a different story. In my previous two posts (here and here), I sought to unravel the fascinating but tangled story of its copyright, some of which I discussed on the Marian Finucane show on RTE Radio 1 last Sunday morning (listen here) and on The Last Word with Matt Cooper on TodayFM on Monday evening (listen here).…

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Copyright and the National Anthem; unravelling a tangled past, avoiding a gap of danger – II – Amhrán na bhFiann

12 July, 201624 September, 2016
| 6 Comments
| Copyright, National Anthem

Most states have national anthems. Just as states come in all shapes and sizes, so there is a great variety in anthems. Some (such as Spain) have no words at all; others, (in states with multiple national languages, such as South Africa) are multi-lingual.

Given that Article 8 of the Irish Constitution provides that the Irish language is the first official language of the State, and that the English language is recognised as a second official language, it is unsurprising that the national anthem comes in both official languages. However, the story of the emergence of both versions is not straightforward. In my previous post, I discussed “The Soldier’s Song”, the music and English language version of the national anthem. In this post, I want to discuss “Amhrán na bhFiann”, the Irish language version of the anthem. The stories are fascinating but tangled; and, as I said in my previous post, I discussed some of them on the Marian Finucane show on RTE Radio 1 last Sunday morning (listen here). Since then, I was also The Last Word with Matt Cooper on TodayFM yesterday evening (listen here). In both cases, I was discussing Senator Mark Daly‘s National Anthem (Protection of Copyright and Related Rights) (Amendment) Bill 2016 (reviving a Bill that he had introduced into the last Seanad earlier in the year).…

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Copyright and the National Anthem; unravelling a tangled past, avoiding a gap of danger – I – The Soldier’s Song

11 July, 20162 November, 2017
| 6 Comments
| Copyright, National Anthem

Anthem&Flag, elements via Taoisheach's website
I was on the Marian Finucane show on RTE Radio 1 yesterday morning (listen here), discussing copyright in the National Anthem. The immediate context of the discussion was Senator Mark Daly‘s National Anthem (Protection of Copyright and Related Rights) (Amendment) Bill 2016 (reviving a Bill that he had introduced into the last Seanad earlier in the year). The story of the copyright in the national anthem is a fascinating one, with many legal twists and turns, which I will discuss in this post and the next (update: this post and the next were originally one post; but I have divided that post into two; in this post I discuss the copyright issues around the music and the English language version of the words of the anthem; in the next post, I will discuss the issues around the Irish language version). Once I have brought that story of these various versions of the anthem up to date, I will discuss the possible impact of Senator Daly’s Bill in a further post.

Working together in 1907, the music of the national anthem was composed by Patrick Heeney (1881-1911) and the English lyrics of “The Soldier’s Song” were composed by Peadar Kearney (1883-1942) [His first draft, written on copybook paper, sold at auction in 2006 for €760,000].…

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How soon will the government approve copyright reform?

5 July, 20166 July, 2016
| 2 Comments
| Copyright, CRC12 / CRC13

Harp and copyrightA recent discussion in the Seanad suggests that a copyright reform Bill will be brought to government very soon. The discussion focussed on the need for efficient enforcement of IP rights in Irish courts, but it was placed in the broader context of copyright reform in general, and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation promised to bring a full package of copyright reform proposals to Government “before the summer recess”. That is due at the end of this week, which means that the copyright reform Bill would have to have been considered by the Government at today’s meeting. But there is nothing on the websites of the Department of the Taoiseach or the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to suggest that it was discussed or approved today. Nevertheless, the discussion in the Seanad is suggestive that we will see the government’s reform proposals very soon. Copyright reform is yet another step closer. I greatly look forward to its arrival.

The discussion arose from the following question posed by Senator Ivana Bacik on the Commencement of the Seanad on Wednesday, 29 June 2016:

The need for the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to inform the House when she proposes to implement the recommendation of the Copyright Review Committee in its report Modernising Copyright, published in October 2013, concerning the extension of the small claims procedure in the District Court to include intellectual property claims up to the value of €15,000, as provided for within the draft Statutory Instrument prepared by the Committee.

…

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Copyright reform comes a little closer still

8 June, 201614 June, 2016
| 4 Comments
| Copyright, CRC12 / CRC13

Harp and copyrightLast week, under the title Copyright reform comes a little closer in Ireland, I wrote about the copyright priorities of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, as set out in the Brief (pdf) to that department’s incoming Minister. This post is by way of a short update. The Government’s newly-published Legislation Programme (pdf) sets out the legislation that the Government will seek to publish over the next few months. There are eleven priority Bills for publication this session; there are four Bills expected to undergo pre-legislative scrutiny this session; and there are 17 Bills currently on the Dáil and Seanad Order Papers. This will keep the government and both Houses of the Oireachtas busy in the short term.

Of more long term interest are the 97 other Bills at various stages of preparation mentioned in the Programme. One of them is a proposed Copyright and Related Rights (and Miscellaneous Intellectual Property Matters) (Amendment) Bill (see p15). The aim of the Bill is to implement certain recommendations of the Copyright Review Committee to modernise Irish copyright law, with some other ancillary necessary legislative changes to copyright. And Heads of the Bill are “expected in June 2016”. We’ll see whether the Heads are published before the end of the month.…

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Copyright reform comes a little closer in Ireland

23 May, 201617 June, 2016
| 4 Comments
| Copyright, CRC12 / CRC13

DJEI Brief for MinisterFurther to my post on the Brief (pdf) to the incoming Minister for Education, I note this morning that a similar Brief (pdf) to the incoming Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation has been published on that Department’s website. Under the heading “immediate priorities in the months ahead” (section 1.3, p5) I was delighted to see the following priority:

(p) A Bill to provide for amendments in the Copyright area

It is proposed to submit for Government approval before summer 2016, a Memorandum for Government with draft Heads of a Bill seeking approval to draft a Bill aimed at achieving certain reforms and modernisation of certain aspects of copyright. [p8]

Similarly, under the heading “key priorities for the Innovation and Investment Division” (section 2.2, p22), I was delighted to see the following priority (emphasis added):

(b) Intellectual Property
(i) Implement a new certification scheme for Intellectual Property to enable small companies to qualify for the Knowledge Development Box (KDB) alongside legislation to underpin this initiative and, separately progress necessary legislative changes to patents legislation;
(ii) Continue preparatory work in the lead up to a referendum on ratification by Ireland of an international Agreement setting up a Unified Patent Court to adjudicate on patent litigation;
(iii) Progress amendments to copyright legislation in response to recommendations in the Report of the Copyright Review Committee.

…

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Hi there! Thanks for dropping by. I’m Eoin O’Dell, and this is my blog: Cearta.ie – the Irish for rights.


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