Ireland

[IE] Court Decision on Uploading Music from Internet

IRIS 2005-10:1/28

Marie McGonagle

School of Law, National University of Ireland, Galway

On 8 July 2005 the High Court ruled that music companies could sue seventeen people they believe are illegally uploading thousands of music tracks onto file-sharing networks. This is the first such decision in Ireland. The judge presiding over the new Commercial Court ordered two telephone companies, Eircom and BT Communications Ireland Ltd, to disclose to four record companies the names, addresses and telephone numbers of the seventeen who are subscribers to their services. The record companies gave an undertaking that the information would be used only for the purpose of seeking redress for alleged infringement of copyright. While the telephone companies had obligations to their subscribers under the Data Protection Act, a court order could override those obligations. Some of the seventeen have since settled with the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA).