Irish SOPA becomes law poses role play threat
Originally published at The Preternatural Post. Please leave any comments there.
It happened quietly. Though there was some public outcry, including the Stop SOPA Ireland online petition which collected more than 80,000 signatures, the European (Copyright and Related Rights) Regulations 2012 has become law in Ireland.
Role players, not just in Ireland but around the globe, need to be aware of the new law because it allows copyright holders to pursue legal injunctions against companies, including social networks like Twitter, Facebook and others, as well as internet service providers (ISPs) on whose systems material which infringes on or violates the copyright of others. In practice, this means Irish role players may lose access to certain parts of the internet and/or role players outside Ireland may find themselves cut off from their Irish friends. If there is a silver lining to the passage of this law, it is that role players are not per se the top targets. In Ireland, that distinction probably goes to those infringing on the copyright of Irish musicians, composers and others in the music industry.
Seán Sherlock, Minister for Research and Innovation, moved swiftly after the statutory instrument was signed into aw to allay fears that major websites and services would be affected. The Junior Labour minister explained that the signing of the law in conjunction with a public consultation paper on reforming Irish copyright laws and the wisdom of Irish courts following the guidance of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) how it is enforced would provide sufficient protection for companies and networks like Google (who protested the new law). In fact the ECJ has already “ruled it illegal to force Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to filter content in order to enforce copyright protection” the journal reports.
All well and good, except….
The ECJ is the authority when it comes to the laws of the European Union (EU). It is not, however, the highest court of national law. Not all questions of national law can be brought before the ECJ, thus the European court’s ruling regarding international copyright issues may be binding on Irish courts in cases involving nations, companies or individuals who are not Irish. When it comes to an Irish individual or company violating Irish copyright, it is Ireland’s national courts which have jurisdiction and they may or may not be follow the guidance of ECJ rulings.
It should also be noted that the ECJ decisions apply to companies, not individuals. And if you don’t think individuals can and will be targeted for action, you don’t remember legal action the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) took against hundreds and thousands of individuals in the 1990′s. Since the Irish music industry is a proponent of the new law, there is no reason to think they will behave any differently.
Of course, music is not a large part of role play. The reason the actions of the recording industry against individuals is significant to role players is because the precedent it sets for other industries and copyright holders to take legal action against individuals who are using copyrighted materials without the permission of the copyright holder. A;though it can be argued that the use of copyrighted material, even music, by role players is legal in many countries under fair use clauses or because few role players use the material for commercial gain, the precedent of going after individual users has been set and it is not going away unless such tactics are made illegal or ineffective by reforms in national and international copyright laws.
Sherlock has argued that the enacting of the Irish SOPA law could and probably should lead to a comprehensive examination of Ireland’s copyright laws. Parties on both sides of the Irish SOPA debate agree that reforms are needed to Ireland’s copyright laws. They differ on just what type of reforms are needed, but at least the consensus that reform is necessary, particularly in the area of digital content, is reassuring…if one assumes it will take place in public view and be subject to both public scrutiny and input prior to becoming law.
The brilliant and creative minds behind our favorite characters deserve to be rewarded and to be able to make a living from their works. They deserve protection. So do we.