The composer Bill Whelan spoke of the challenges facing composers at the launch of the Music Composition Centre at Trinity College, Dublin. Here, we reprint his speech in full.

The full range of views currently being aired on the state of copyright and illegal downloading was starkly illustrated in the responses of Mike Hanrahan and Scott McLaughlin to my article (Aug–Sept).

In the midst of flagrant copyright infringements online, how will musicians’ and composers’ work be protected in the future? Bill Whelan attended the World Copyright Summit in Washington and provides a composer’s perspective.