Out-Law News 2 min. read

Ireland argues copyright of James Joyce


The Irish government has stepped into a row between the Irish National Library and the estate of James Joyce, which was threatening to disrupt a festival to celebrate the centenary of the Bloomsday – the day depicted in Joyce's novel Ulysses.

June 16, 1904 is the date on which Leopald Bloom took his fictional but famous stroll through the streets of Dublin, and June 16th, 2004 marks the centennial of that event, with plans for a three month-long celebration, due to start on 14th June, well under way – at a reported cost of around £700,000.

But the festival faces disruption following the news that Stephen Joyce, the author's grandson, has threatened to sue the library and other organisations involved in the celebrations for breach of copyright, if any public readings of the author's works are made.

There has also been concern that the mere exhibition of drafts of the novel, held by the Library, would fall foul of the copyright laws.

The threats have been taken very seriously, as Stephen Joyce has a reputation for strongly enforcing his rights in his grandfather's estate and, with just over two weeks to go before the centennial, the Irish government has stepped into the breach.

The difficulty relates to an EU Directive of 1993, which extended the length of copyright protection for most works to 70 years from the date of death of the author and, for corporations, to 70 years from the start of the year in which the work was created.

Prior to the Directive, copyright protection lasted for only 50 years. For the Joyce estate, it expired in 1991.

Compounding the problems, the Irish law implementing the Directive is unclear as to whether the mere exhibition of copyrighted material in a public place infringes copyright. In order to allow the exhibition to go ahead, the Irish Parliament is therefore rushing through a draft bill that states:

"For the avoidance of doubt, no infringement of any right created by this Part in relation to an artistic or literary work occurs by reason of the placing on display the work, or a copy thereof, in a place or premises to which members of the public have access.''

The Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Bill 2004 has been passed by the Seanad and will now go forward to the Dáil.

Mickey Mouse Act

Similar disagreements have taken place in the US. In 1998, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act was passed in 1998. Named after the late singer-Congressman, it extended the term of copyright protection by 20 years, bringing the US largely into line with Europe. Works by corporations were given protection for 95 years from the date of creation. The legislation soon became known as the Mickey Mouse Act because Disney had pushed to have it passed before the expiry of its copyright in Mickey Mouse expired in 2003. As the law currently stands, Mickey Mouse is protected until 2023.

We are processing your request. \n Thank you for your patience. An error occurred. This could be due to inactivity on the page - please try again.