Today, the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin announced the appointment of four Commissioners to Coimisiún na Meán/the Media Commission. The Media Commission, which is currently in the process of being established in accordance with the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act (OSMR), will act as the supervisory
Update on the Electoral Reform Act 2022
Update on the Electoral Reform Act 2022
The Electoral Reform Act 2022 (the Act), brings about significant changes to the electoral system in Ireland.
From the perspective of online platforms, Part 4 and Part 5 will be of key importance as they impose new obligations on platform providers to (i) ensure transparency in respect of online political advertising on their services; and (ii) to notify/take action in respect of dis/misinformation relating to online electoral processes on their services.
While the Act was signed into law on 25 July 2022, only certain sections of the Act have been commenced. Part 4 and Part 5 of the Act have not yet been commenced.
Online Safety & Media Regulation Bill 2022
The Government has published the long anticipated Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022 which it has hailed as a “watershed moment as we move from self-regulation to an era of accountability in online safety”.
Online safety is one of the headline items, and it will be overseen by the newly-established Media Commission (Coimisiún na Meán). The Bill also seeks to implement a number of other key legislative reforms including the transposition of the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive and the alignment of the regulation of video on-demand services with traditional broadcasting.
The publication of this Bill follows input from and engagement with key stakeholders from the public, NGOs, companies and government organisations over the course of the last three years.
We have summarised some of the key aspects of the Bill below.
Reports of court proceedings in blogs and social media may no longer be immune from defamation claims
The Law Reform Commission has published an Issues Paper on Privilege for Reports of Court Proceedings under the Defamation Act 2009. The Paper examines and make recommendations on whether changes should be made to the Defamation Act 2009 relating to absolute privilege for reports of court proceedings. Section 17 of the Defamation Act 2009 currently provides that there is absolute privilege (i.e. complete immunity) from a defamation action where the claim is about a “fair and accurate report of proceedings” heard in any court in Ireland, Northern Ireland, or certain European and international courts.
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Modernising Copyright – ICEL/TCD Conference
The conference on Modernising Copyright, jointly organised by the Irish Centre for European Law and the School of Law, Trinity College Dublin, brought together a number of interesting academics, practitioners and commentators, for a lively discussion concerning various aspects of the future of copyright law in Europe. Among the issues addressed were the development of a Digital Single Market (DSM) in Europe, the nature of copyright exceptions and limitations, and the position of online service providers and intermediaries vís-a-vís copyright infringement.
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ECHR upholds liability of online news service for its readers’ defamatory comments
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has upheld its first instance decision in Delfi A.S. v Estonia (16 June 2015). It held that an online news portal operator (Delfi) was responsible for comments posted about an online article by one of its readers (see our legal update on the first instance decision here).
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An Irish Tech Company’s Role in Combatting Ebola
As the world still tries to come to grasps with the Ebola crisis in Africa, it is thought that the greatest risk of contracting the deadly virus in Europe is for healthcare workers. An Irish tech start-up company called Medical eGuides has launched an app which will provide medical staff with critical information on how to effectively and competently treat Ebola-infected patients in accordance with the World Health Organisation’s guidelines.
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What’s in a name? Singer sues RTÉ for use of his name
A singer/songwriter is suing RTÉ and comedian Andy Quirke for alleged trade mark infringement over their use of the name, ‘Damo’ in a TV show.
According to the Irish Patents Office, Dubliner Damien O’Regan registered the name ‘Damo’ in relation to entertainment services, music and lyrics he provides. Mr O’Regan told the High Court that the use of the name Damo is a clear breach of his trade mark and said he had not given his consent for its use by Mr Quirke.
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