Agenda Articles

On 17 January 2023, Getty Images announced that it had initiated High Court proceedings in London against Stable Diffusion Limited for copyright infringement. Separately, a class action lawsuit has been launched in California against the generative AI systems Stability AI, Midjourney and Deviant Art.

IORP II is set to be transposed into Irish law in the "coming months", although no actual date has been given by the Department of Social Protection. It will have a significant impact on the pensions landscape in Ireland and impose a range of new requirements on pension schemes.

Read Pensions and Tax in the Irish Agenda on Ireland Supports Mechanisms to Resolve Double Taxation Disputes Between Member States.

Businesses and communities are dealing with many COVID-19 related issues that are causing severe business disruption. The Irish government has been swift to introduce new measures to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on business.

In December 2020, the European Commission launched a much-heralded and far-reaching reform of the rules governing online commerce and activity.

The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement of December 2020 (the TCA) has a significant impact on competition law.

Prudential Assurance Company Ltd (Prudential) and Rothesay Life plc (Rothesay) successfully overturned the English High Court's refusal to sanction the proposed transfer of a portfolio of annuities from Prudential to Rothesay.

On 8 December 2020, the Government published its first "Action Plan for Insurance Reform" in Ireland (the Action Plan). The publication of the Action Plan reinforces the Government's emphasis on insurance reform in its "Programme for Government – Our Share Future" (the Programme for Government) published in June 2020.

Read the Not for Profit in the Irish Agenda on the new rules for trustees to establish beneficial ownership register.