Effective Date: January 2026:This Copyright, Database Rights, Trade Mark and Intellectual Property Policy (“Policy”) governs the ownership, permitted use and protection of all intellectual property, content, data, databases, branding, materials, systems and proprietary information associated with IrishMetro, including but not limited to IrishMetro.com, IrishMetro.ie, the IrishMetro Restaurant Directory, IrishMetro newsletters, publications, databases, directories, graphics, promotional materials and related digital services.
For the purposes of this Policy, references to “IrishMetro,” “we,” “our” or “us” include the proprietor, operator, publisher and/or lawful intellectual-property owner of IrishMetro and its associated websites, publications, directories, databases and services. By accessing, viewing, searching, browsing, using, downloading from, linking to, interacting with or otherwise making use of any IrishMetro website, database, directory, newsletter, publication, image, document or service, you agree to respect all applicable intellectual-property rights and the restrictions contained in this Policy.
1. Ownership of IrishMetro intellectual property: Except where expressly stated otherwise, all intellectual-property rights in and relating to IrishMetro are owned by, licensed to, or lawfully controlled by IrishMetro. Such rights may include copyright, database rights, trade mark rights, service-mark rights, design rights, domain-name rights, goodwill, rights arising from passing off, rights in confidential information and all other intellectual-property or proprietary rights recognised under Irish, European Union or applicable international law. IrishMetro claims and reserves all rights in its original content and materials to the fullest extent permitted by law. Copyright protection in Ireland arises automatically when qualifying original works are created there is no general requirement to register copyright. ipoi.gov.ie
2. Protected IrishMetro materials: Protected materials include, without limitation: - written articles, newsletters, reports, editorial content and publications - restaurant profiles and original descriptions - directory structure, arrangement, categorisation and presentation - compilations and databases - original research and datasets - restaurant and business directories compiled by IrishMetro - photographs, illustrations, designs and graphics - logos, icons, banners and promotional artwork - downloadable documents and spreadsheets - videos, audio, animations and social-media material - website layouts and graphical presentation - HTML, CSS, scripts, software and original source code where legally protected - marketing copy, slogans and original advertising material - bespoke category names and original taxonomy - research reports and commercial data compilations - newsletters and mailing materials - original maps, charts, tables and infographics - IrishMetro letterheads and business stationery - and any other original material created for or owned by IrishMetro. No publication on the internet shall be interpreted as abandonment, waiver, dedication to the public domain or surrender of any intellectual-property right.
3. Database rights: The IrishMetro Restaurant Directory and other IrishMetro databases may constitute protected databases. Irish law provides copyright protection for qualifying original databases and also recognises a separate or sui generis database right protecting substantial investment in obtaining, verifying or presenting database contents. ipoi.gov.ie Accordingly, except where permitted by law or expressly authorised in writing by IrishMetro, no person may extract, reproduce, scrape, download, reuse, republish or systematically copy all or any substantial part of an IrishMetro database. Repeated or systematic extraction or reutilisation of smaller portions may also be prohibited where, taken collectively, such conduct conflicts with the normal exploitation of the database or unreasonably prejudices the legitimate interests of IrishMetro. This restriction applies regardless of whether extraction is performed manually, automatically, by software, artificial intelligence, crawler, bot, spider, scraper, API, browser extension, data-mining system or any other technological means.
4. Prohibition on copying and republication: Unless IrishMetro has given prior written permission, no person, company, organisation, publisher, directory operator, data broker, marketing agency or other entity may: copy IrishMetro content in whole or in substantial part reproduce or republish IrishMetro articles copy restaurant descriptions written by IrishMetro duplicate the structure or substantial contents of an IrishMetro directory reproduce IrishMetro graphics, photographs or promotional materials incorporate IrishMetro content into another website, application, publication or database republish IrishMetro material on social-media pages for commercial purposes sell, licence, distribute or commercially exploit IrishMetro content or create derivative commercial products substantially based on protected IrishMetro material. The above restrictions apply to online and offline use, including websites, mobile applications, printed publications, brochures, directories, newsletters, commercial databases, social-media platforms, search tools and other forms of publication or dissemination.
5. IrishMetro name and branding: The names and identifiers: IrishMetro IrishMetro.com IrishMetro.ie together with associated logos, stylised representations, brand designs, graphic identities and related distinctive branding, including but not limited to "Don't Just Eat" - may constitute trade marks, trade names and/or identifiers in which IrishMetro claims legal rights. No person may use IrishMetro branding in a manner that falsely suggests sponsorship, affiliation, endorsement, partnership or commercial connection with IrishMetro. The Intellectual Property Office of Ireland recognises trade marks as the appropriate mechanism for protecting distinctive brand names and logos. ipoi.gov.ie Nothing in this Policy should be interpreted as claiming exclusive ownership of ordinary descriptive language beyond the protection actually available under applicable law.
6. Keywords, metatags and online advertising: No third party may deliberately use a protected IrishMetro trade mark or confusingly similar designation in circumstances that unlawfully: misrepresent affiliation with IrishMetro divert users by deception create confusion as to commercial origin pass another business off as IrishMetro impersonate IrishMetro or falsely suggest that a competing directory, website or service is operated, approved or endorsed by IrishMetro. This restriction may apply, where legally actionable, to use in: search-engine advertising paid keywords metatags domain names subdomains social-media usernames advertising copy website headings online marketplace listings or other digital identifiers. However, IrishMetro does not claim exclusive copyright ownership over individual ordinary words or generic descriptive phrases merely because those words appear on its website.
7. “Restaurant Directory” and descriptive terms: The phrase “Restaurant Directory” is descriptive in nature. Nothing in this Policy is intended to assert a copyright monopoly over common descriptive words or phrases where such protection is not recognised by law. IrishMetro may nevertheless enforce rights in a distinctive registered or unregistered mark, composite logo, visual presentation, brand expression, slogan or other identifier where applicable. Use of descriptive terminology becomes particularly problematic where it is combined with IrishMetro branding, copied presentation or other elements in a manner likely to mislead the public into believing that another service is IrishMetro or is connected with IrishMetro.
8. Passing off and false association: No business, person or organisation may represent itself as: IrishMetro an official IrishMetro partner an IrishMetro-authorised directory an IrishMetro agent an IrishMetro branch or an organisation endorsed or sponsored by IrishMetro, unless such relationship has been expressly authorised. IrishMetro reserves the right to pursue appropriate legal remedies where another party misrepresents its goods or services in a manner that damages IrishMetro's goodwill or causes confusion.
9. Automated scraping, crawling and data harvesting: Unless expressly authorised, the following activities are prohibited: automated extraction of restaurant records mass copying of contact details harvesting business names, addresses, telephone numbers or emails from IrishMetro using bots or spiders to construct competing datasets automatically downloading directory pages using IrishMetro as a source for mass lead-generation databases replicating IrishMetro's directory through automated tools circumventing technical protections or using IrishMetro data to train, populate or enrich competing commercial directories without lawful permission. IrishMetro may deploy technical measures to detect, block, throttle or otherwise restrict automated access.
10. Artificial intelligence and machine-learning use: Except where permitted by mandatory law or expressly licensed in writing, IrishMetro content may not be systematically extracted for use in: commercial generative-AI training machine-learning datasets large-scale language-model datasets commercial retrieval systems synthetic database generation or commercial content-generation systems intended to reproduce or substitute for IrishMetro's directory or publications. Nothing in this clause overrides any statutory exception that cannot lawfully be excluded.
11. Restaurant and third-party information: IrishMetro may publish factual information concerning restaurants, service providers and businesses. Underlying facts, such as a business name, telephone number, publicly available address or opening hours, may not themselves be subject to IrishMetro copyright merely because they appear on IrishMetro. However, IrishMetro may hold rights in: its selection of information verification work original descriptions original photographs classification arrangement database structure research compilation and substantial investment in creating and maintaining its directory. Third-party logos, trade marks, photographs and materials remain the property of their respective rights holders where applicable.
12. Limited personal use: IrishMetro grants visitors a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable permission to access IrishMetro content for ordinary personal and informational use. This permission does not include a right to: republish content create competing directories commercially exploit content systematically download data resell data or reproduce protected material.
13. Linking to IrishMetro: Ordinary hyperlinks to IrishMetro pages are generally permitted provided that the link: does not misrepresent a relationship with IrishMetro does not imply sponsorship or endorsement does not frame or embed IrishMetro content deceptively and does not form part of an infringing or unlawful activity. IrishMetro reserves the right to request removal of links that create confusion, facilitate infringement or otherwise violate applicable law.
14. No licence by implication: Nothing displayed on IrishMetro shall be interpreted as granting any licence, assignment or transfer of intellectual-property rights except where expressly confirmed in writing. Silence, failure to object immediately, previous tolerance or continued public availability shall not constitute consent or waiver.
15. Requests for permission: Any person wishing to reproduce, licence, syndicate, commercially reuse or republish IrishMetro material must obtain prior written authorisation. Requests should identify: the material concerned the proposed use the publication or platform the territory the period of use whether the use is commercial and the estimated audience or circulation. IrishMetro may grant or refuse permission at its discretion, subject to applicable law.
16. Copyright notices: IrishMetro content may display notices such as:© IrishMetro 2026.All Rights Reserved. or:© IrishMetro / IrishMetro.com.All Rights Reserved.
The presence of a copyright notice is not what creates copyright in Ireland, but it can provide useful notice that rights are being asserted.
ipoi.gov.ie Removal, concealment or alteration of copyright notices, proprietary notices, watermarks or authorship information may constitute a breach of this Policy and may also have legal consequences under applicable law.
17. Moral rights Where applicable, authors and creators may retain moral rights, including rights concerning attribution and protection against certain derogatory treatment of their work. Irish law recognises moral rights including the right of attribution, integrity and protection against false attribution, subject to statutory conditions and exceptions. ipoi.gov.ie
18. Exceptions and lawful uses: Nothing in this Policy is intended to prevent an act expressly permitted by applicable copyright law. Irish copyright law contains exceptions and permitted uses, including certain forms of fair dealing for purposes such as criticism, review, news reporting, research and private study, subject to statutory conditions. ipoi.gov.ie Any party relying on an exception is responsible for ensuring that its use genuinely falls within the applicable legal exception.
19. Infringement notices: If IrishMetro reasonably believes that its intellectual property has been infringed, it may issue a formal notice requiring: immediate cessation of the activity removal of infringing material preservation of evidence disclosure of the extent of copying or distribution where legally available confirmation that further infringement will cease and, where appropriate, payment of licence fees, damages, costs or other lawful remedies. For online infringement, IrishMetro may submit copyright or trade-mark complaints to hosting providers, search engines, social-media platforms, registrars, advertising networks, payment processors or other intermediaries. The IPOI notes that online copyright enforcement commonly includes notice-and-takedown procedures. ipoi.gov.ie
20. Enforcement: IrishMetro reserves all rights and remedies available under law. Depending upon the circumstances, remedies for infringement may include: injunctive relief damages an account of profits delivery up or destruction of infringing materials legal costs where awarded database-right remedies trade-mark remedies passing-off remedies contractual remedies and any other relief available under applicable law. Nothing in this Policy limits IrishMetro's right to pursue immediate legal relief where appropriate.
21. Evidence and monitoring: IrishMetro may retain evidence of suspected infringement, including: web-page captures server logs access logs timestamps download histories bot activity IP-address records where lawfully processed archived webpages communications and third-party platform records. Such information may be used for security, fraud prevention, enforcement and legal proceedings subject to applicable data-protection law.
22. Repeat infringement and access restriction: Where a user, organisation, crawler or automated system repeatedly violates these terms, IrishMetro may, where lawful: suspend access block IP addresses or user agents terminate accounts revoke licences restrict automated access or take further enforcement action.
23. Reservation of rights: All rights not expressly granted are reserved. No failure or delay by IrishMetro to enforce any right shall constitute a permanent waiver of that right. A waiver relating to one event does not constitute a waiver relating to any future infringement.
24. Severability: If any provision of this Policy is determined by a competent court or authority to be invalid, unlawful or unenforceable, that provision shall be interpreted or reduced to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions shall continue in full force to the extent permitted by law.
25. Governing law and jurisdiction: This Policy shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Ireland, including applicable European Union intellectual-property legislation. Subject to any mandatory rights or jurisdictional rules that apply, disputes concerning this Policy shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Irish courts.
26. Changes to this Policy: IrishMetro may amend this Policy from time to time to reflect changes in its services, business practices or applicable law. The most current version published on IrishMetro.com shall apply from its stated effective date.
27. Copyright and intellectual-property contact: Requests concerning copyright, licensing, intellectual property, suspected infringement or permission to reproduce IrishMetro materials should be directed to:
IrishMetro Restaurant DirectoryIrishMetro.com IrishMetro.ieCopyright / Intellectual Property DepartmentEmail: admin@irishmetro.com
FORMAL COPYRIGHT NOTICE © 2026 IrishMetro. -- All Rights Reserved. The original content, editorial material, databases, database structure, compilations, research, graphics, photographs, branding, promotional material and other protected intellectual property published by IrishMetro may not be copied, reproduced, republished, systematically extracted, distributed, sold, commercially exploited or incorporated into another directory, website, database, publication or service except with prior written authorisation or where expressly permitted by applicable law.