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28 2000

COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS ACT, 2000

Chapter 24

Copyright: Legal Tender

Copyright in Irish legal tender notes, euro notes, consolidated bank notes and in Irish and euro coins.

200. —(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Part and subject to subsection (2), the copyright in legal tender notes issued, whether before or after the commencement of this section, by the Central Bank of Ireland (in this section referred to as “the Bank”) or issued before such commencement by the Currency Commission, shall be perpetual and vests in the Bank.

(2) This Part is without prejudice to the copyright of the European Central Bank in legal tender notes denominated in the euro unit.

(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Part, the copyright in consolidated bank notes issued before the commencement of this section by the Bank or by the Currency Commission shall be perpetual and vests in the Bank.

(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Part, the copyright in coins issued under the Coinage Act, 1926 , gold coins issued under the Currency Act, 1927 , coins issued under the Coinage Act, 1950 , and coins issued under the Decimal Currency Acts, 1969 to 1990, and the copyright in the artistic work defining the design of any such coin shall be perpetual and vests in the Minister for Finance.

(5)  (a)  This Part is without prejudice to the copyright of the European Community in the common face of coins denominated in euro or in cent, and in the artistic work defining the design of any such face, or to the assignment of that copyright by the Commission of the European Communities on behalf of the European Community.

(b) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Part, the copyright in the national face of coins issued under section 11 of the Economic and Monetary Union Act, 1998 , and the copyright in the artistic work defining the design of any such face shall be perpetual and vests in the Minister for Finance.

(c) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Part, the copyright in all coins issued under Part III of the Economic and Monetary Union Act, 1998 , and the copyright in the artistic work defining the design of any such coin shall be perpetual and vests in the Minister for Finance.

(6) In the application of section 37 (3) to any legal tender note or consolidated bank note or any coin to which this section applies, references in that subsection to the work as a whole or to any substantial part thereof shall be construed as references to the note or coin as a whole or to any part thereof.

(7) Chapter 6 of this Part shall not apply in relation to the copyrights referred to in this section.

(8) Coins to which this section applies and the artistic work defining the design of any such coin shall be deemed, for the purposes of section 172 of the Act of 1927, not to be designs.

(9) This section applies to coins issued under the Coinage Act. 1926, gold coins issued under the Currency Act, 1927 , coins issued under the Coinage Act, 1950 , coins issued under the Decimal Currency Acts, 1969 to 1990, and coins issued under the Economic and Monetary Union Act, 1998 .