Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000

Application to District Court for seizure of infringing copies, articles or devices.

132.—(1) Without prejudice to section 133 , where the owner of the copyright in a work applies to the District Court, it may, where satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that there are being hawked, carried about or marketed—

(a) infringing copies of the work,

(b) articles specifically designed or adapted for making copies of a work, knowing or having reason to believe that it has been or is to be used for making infringing copies of a work, or

(c) protection-defeating devices,

authorise by order a member of the Garda Síochána to seize without warrant the copies, articles or devices and to bring them before the District Court.

(2) On being satisfied that any copy, article or device referred to in subsection (1) is—

(a) an infringing copy,

(b) articles specifically designed or adapted for making copies of a work, which the person hawking, carrying about or marketing those articles, knows or has reason to believe that they have been or are to be used to make infringing copies of a work, or

(c) a protection-defeating device,

the District Court may order the copy, article or device to be destroyed or to be delivered up to the owner of the copyright or otherwise dealt with as the Court may think fit.

(3) In an application to the District Court under subsection (1) or, in any ex parte application or interlocutory motion to a court of competent jurisdiction for an order which would permit the applicant to enter and search premises or place specified therein and take possession of material found therein on terms set out in such order, the court hearing such an application may receive hearsay evidence to the effect that the witness or deponent believes that the material may be found in a particular location.

(4) A witness or deponent shall not be obliged to indicate the source of the information upon which that witness formed the belief that material may be found in a particular location.

(5) After the implementation of an order made under this section, the court may, on the application of a person aggrieved by it, award damages against the applicant for the order as it considers just, on being satisfied that—

(a) no infringement of copyright has been established, and

(b) the information on which the copyright owner applied for the order was given maliciously.