Ireland amends copyright rules for the Digital Single Market

The Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment has signed new regulations giving further effect in Irish law to the European Union’s copyright framework for the digital single market. The European Union (Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Single Market) (Amendment) Regulations 2026, published as S.I. No. 469 of 2026, appear in the Iris Oifigiúil of Friday, 11 September 2026.

The instrument is made under the powers conferred by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) and is designed to give further effect to Articles 3, 4 and 5 of Directive (EU) 2019/790 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market.

What the directive requires

Directive (EU) 2019/790 modernised EU copyright law for the digital age, addressing how protected works are used online and how rights holders are remunerated. The three articles now being given further effect in Ireland cover the core of that framework:

• Article 3 — the exception for text and data mining for research purposes, allowing research organisations and cultural heritage institutions to mine lawfully accessible works.
• Article 4 — the general exception for text and data mining, subject to rights holders’ ability to reserve their rights.
• Article 5 — the exception for the use of works and other subject matter in digital and cross-border teaching activities.

The amendment regulations update the existing Irish implementing measures so that these provisions operate correctly for rights holders, research bodies, educational institutions and digital platforms.

Legal basis and publication

The regulations were made by the Minister in exercise of the powers conferred by the European Communities Act 1972, the standard vehicle for transposing EU measures into Irish law. The instrument is cited as the European Union (Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Single Market) (Amendment) Regulations 2026.

Copies of the regulations may be purchased from Government Publications, Mountshannon Road, Kilmainham, Dublin, D08 XA06, at a price of €1.50.

Why it matters

For rights holders, the amendments clarify how their works may be used in text and data mining and in digital teaching, and where they may reserve rights. For research organisations, universities and cultural heritage institutions, the changes confirm the scope of lawful access to protected material. For digital platforms and online service providers, the updated rules reduce legal uncertainty around the reuse of copyright-protected content in the single market.

The publication in the Iris Oifigiúil of 11 September 2026 brings the amended provisions into the body of Irish law, aligning domestic practice with the EU’s digital copyright regime as it applies across member states.

Source: Iris Oifigiúil, No. 73, 11 September 2026, Section I, p. 1 (official reference: S.I. No. 469 of 2026).