SCHOOLS should pay for music and other copyright material in the same way as they pay for electricity and the telephone, according to Mr James Hickey, solicitor.
Mr Hickey was writing in the first issue of Irish Intellectual Property Review, introduced recently by Mr Justice Declan Costello, President of the High Court. There will be three issues a year.
Mr Hickey, a member of the editorial board, said the only difference between copyright owners and the suppliers of other services was that they could not withdraw the supply of the product of their labour and were in a uniquely vulnerable position.
This situation has worsened with the development of technology, he said. Irish legislation governing copyright was written in the 1960s and reflects the technology of that time.
The principle of a person owning the fruits of their intellectual labour was long established, he said, and existed in copyright law in most countries. But the details of this law varied and a difficulty for Irish creators was the implementation of their copyright in other jurisdictions.
But EU law was being harmonised and the US joined the Borne Convention on copyright in 1989 so progress in harmonising international law was advanced. He praised the work of copyright collection societies in collecting royalties due especially to musicians.
Ms Pauline Walley, editor of the journal, said copyright was a hot issue for lawyers, the traditional creative industries, media and broadcasting professionals, and computer software houses.
We are also facing a "juggernaut of EU legislation" in this area, according to the journal's editorial. "It is EU legislation which will probably decide how much you will pay for your video in your local Xtra vision store; what you will be able to see and/ or videotape on your television or record on a blank cassette; whether you will have to pay royalties every time you borrow a John Grisham or Maeve Binchy novel in your local library; and whether you should pay a resale royalty to the original artist when you sell on an art work."
The journal is published by Round Hall, Sweet and Maxwell.