http://poethead.wordpress.

com/2011/05/09/silicon-republic-article-regarding-radi
cal-copyright-law-reform-in-ireland/
Silicon Republic article regarding 'Radical Copyright Law Reform' in Ireland.

This morning (09/05/2011) Silicon Republic reported on a radical overhaul

of Ireland's Copyright Law, this is interesting given that most discussions
in this area have been limited in recent times to the 'three strikes and
you're' out nexus of anti-innovation.
I am adding here the current link to the SR reportage, and a couple of links
which focus on originators of work and their options in publication . In this
case, mostly my focus is on poetry and poetics, as that is what this blog is
about. Poets have been innovating in this area for quite a period of time and
have produced documents on fair-use , creative commons and best practices in
digitisation and social-media , some of those links are gathered in the Permanen
t
Documents pages of Poethead, which are located in the central column, just benea
th
this post.
SR Article here > http://www.siliconrepublic.com/new-media/item/21695-radical-co
pyright-law/
This morning Minister Bruton said: “I am determined that government will make what
ever changes are necessary to allow innovative digital companies reach their ful
l potential in Ireland. These companies make an enormous contribution to jobs an
d economic growth, and government must do everything it can to allow them to flo
urish and expand in Ireland.
“Some companies have indicated that the current copyright legislation does not cat
er well for the digital environment and actually creates barriers to innovation
and to the establishment of new business models. Moving towards a US-style “fair u
se” doctrine is one suggestion that has been made.
“I am determined to respond to these suggestions in a comprehensive and timely man
ner. It is not wise to make changes to this extremely complex area of legislatio
n without first considering the issues in detail.
“Therefore I have commenced a time-limited review of the law in the area to be con
ducted by three industry experts. The review will include a full consultation pr
ocess with all relevant stakeholders, and the entire process will be complete wi
thin six months.”
Barriers to innovation at all levels of creative output include the
misunderstanding of copyright conventions, or inability to properly
utilise such innovations as Creative Commons licenses, which allow
artists to set up copyrights (including derivative rights). Derivatives
in poetics include: translations, adaptions (incl.musical) pictorial adaptions ,
film, musical references, translation ( both collaborative/non-collaborative)
and quotations from...
it is in the nature of poetry to lend itself to innovation. A simple example
of derivation is (for instance) Leonard Cohen's adaption of Federico Garcia
Lorca's 'Little Viennese Waltz'. (or we could go with Dante!)
The adaption would not occur if artistic inspiration were stymied by copyright
law that sought to lock-in how a piece of material is used. To this end , I
am linking in a discussion regarding digisation, adaption and transmission from
the Harriet Monroe institute which is titled 'code of best practices in fair us
e
for poetry' to illustrate how artists are driving discussions in this area of
concern.
The problems with previous discussions here in Ireland included that the
consultation process was limited to big organisations who were perceived as
the only stakeholders on the issue of copyright, by our previous Govt.
We cannot forget that the creative arts have many stakeholders who are already
concerned in this area and who have created and developed manifestos based on
their understanding of the development of original works !I am adding here an
article relating to Portugese problems , which imo do not take cognisance of the
right of the artist to set and maintain their own copyright . The onus is on
politicians to read and understand that artists better get the process of creati
on
and adaptions and in order to radicalise, the consultation should be wide.

Additional Notes , The Harriet Monroe Institute , centre for social media discus
sion, Portugal to make Creative Commons illegal ?:
“Embracing the overarching value of access to poetry as its theme, the group saw t
hat business, technological, and societal shifts had profound implications for p
oets publishing both in new and in traditional media, and also that poets have a
n opportunity to take a central role in expanding access to a broad range of poe
try in coming months and years. Almost immediately, the group’s conversation focus
ed on barriers to poetic innovation and distribution caused by clearance issues.
Some of these clearance issues develop from the business structures underlying
poetry publishing, but a significant number, the group discovered, relate to ins
titutional practices that might be reconsidered, including both poets’ and publish
ers’ approaches to quoting and other types of possible fair use. Soon after its fi
rst meeting, the group began discussing the possibility of developing “best practi
ces” for poets and publishers.“
Reported problems with Creative Commons in Portugal.
“Article 3, point 1 – The authors have the right to the perception of a compensation
equitable for the reproduction of written works, in paper or similar support, f
or instance microfilm, photocopy, digitalization or other processes of similar n
ature.
[...]
Article 5 (Inalienability and non-renunciability) – The equitable compensation of
authors, artists, interpreters or executives is inalienable and non-renunciable,
being null any other contractual clause in contrary.”
[ From ] > http://www.technollama.co.uk/is-portugal-about-to-make-creative-
commons-illegal
[Source docs ] > http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/fair-use/related-material
s/codes/code-best-practices-fair-use-poetry http://poethead.wordpress.com/2
011/03/23/poetry-and-digitisation-how-derivatives-occur/
Submissions to the Copyright Review Committee should be sent to copyrightre
view@deti.ie or posted to: Copyright Review, Room 517, Department of Enterprise,
Jobs and Innovation, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Submissions should be received b
y close of business on Thursday 30th June 2011.