Residency rules and qualifying criteria for artists’ tax exemption and Section 481 film projects will be tightened but the current reliefs are likely to remain unchanged after Budget 2012, according to The Sunday Business Post. Read the full story

Veteran musical performers are in line for a windfall because of an EU extension on royalty payments by a further 20 years from 50 years currently to 70 years, The Sunday Times and The Sunday Business Post report.

Composers and lyricists currently retain copyright for their lifetimes plus 70 years after their death but performers never received the same rights. This means artists such as Dickie Rock, Brendan Bowyer and Red Hurley can all expect a revenue stream into the future. Read the full story

Musicians are awaiting a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling this week on the payment of royalties to artists for music, or music videos, played in hotel rooms. The case challenges whether or not a section of Irish copyright legislation, the 2000 Copyright and Related Rights Act, goes against an EU directive on rental and lending copyright. Section 97 of the Irish act specifically exempts hotels from paying royalties to musicians for music played in hotel rooms by guests. Read the full story

Now there is no escape. Or so it would appear. The Programme for Government has proposed an end to the TV licence and its replacement with a public broadcasting charge which every household will have to pay “regardless of the device they use to access content”, The Sunday Times reports. Read the full story

A movie that benefited from Section 481 tax relief has secured a $1m distribution deal after it was shown at the Sundance Film Festival last week, The Sunday Business Post reports. Read the full story

Taoiseach aspirant and minister for culture Mary Hanafin has lobbied her colleague Brian Lenihan to extend tax breaks for investment in film production in Tuesday’s Budget, The Sunday Business Post reports. Read the full story

Following the publication of the National Recovery Plan, Minister Mary Hanafin’s statement can be seen here. The salient facts as they relate to the arts sector, as set out by Theatre Forum Ireland, are as follows: Read the full story

People all over Ireland are clearing out their attics in the hope of finding valuable items that they can turn into much-needed cash, The Sunday Business Post reports. Read the full story

Is nothing beyond the reach of the Politically Correct brigade these days? Heck, you can’t even make a film featuring a few stereotypical paddies falling around the place after a few scoops too many.  Or can you? Read the full story

A movie that cost just €130,000 and 17 days to make will cost at least $6m to reprise as a Broadway musical next year according to its would-be producers, The Sunday Times reports. Read the full story