Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) (Web Archive) Bill 2024

Public bill · Private Member · Introduced

A simple change to copyright law would let designated public bodies copy and keep web-based material that is available in Ireland, without that copying counting as infringement. It would also allow them to make freely available online content available again through the internet, even if the original later disappears from elsewhere. The aim is to build and preserve an Irish web archive so citizens and researchers can keep permanent access to the country’s digital and cultural record. The measure matters because online material can vanish quickly, and the bill would help safeguard articles, publications and other digital content with an Irish connection.

Formal long title

Bill entitled an Act to amend the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 to ensure that the online, digital output of the nation is collected and preserved so that citizens and researchers, within the country and abroad, are guaranteed permanent access to the intellectual and cultural memory of the nation.

Last updated 30 January 2025