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A guide to Singapore’s new copyright law

Sources say an impending overhaul of Singapore’s copyright law will particularly benefit creators and businesses will need to re-think engagement deals

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Copyright in Singapore broken down and explained

Reading time: 7 minutes.

Copyright refers to the bundle of rights that is granted by the Copyright Act [1] in respect of original works and other subject-matter for limited periods of time and subject to certain permitted exceptions. [2] So what does copyright protect, and do you need a lawyer to register your Copyright?

Copyright can be used to protect works like novels, computer programmes, screenplays, music, film, photographs, performances, paintings, sound recordings, television and radio broadcasts. Owning a copyright allows you to control the commercial or personal use of your work. [3]

How can you get copyright protection in Singapore?

• What are the requirements for copyright protection in Singapore?

First, your work must fall within one of the recognized categories under the Copyright Act, i.e. a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work. A simple rule of thumb is that if your work can be seen and/or heard, it is most probably protectable. The Copyright Act also recognizes cinematograph films, sound recordings, cable programmes, television and sound broadcasts as protectable works, and special rules outside the scope of this article apply to them.

Second, your work must be “connected” with Singapore, a Berne Convention country, or a country in the World Trade Organization. [4] This “connection” arises if you are a citizen/resident of the above countries. [5] If you also intend to publish your work, the first publication must be in one of the above countries. [6] A full list of countries in which the Berne Convention is in force can be found here , and a full list of members of the World Trade Organization can be found here .

Third, your work must be reduced to some material form, i.e. recorded in a visible form as words, figures or symbols. [7] It is sufficient to create digital versions of the work e.g. an audio recording, PDF or CAD file etc stored in a computer or other electronic means which can be used to make further copies. [8] Thus, music composed on the fly during your jam sessions is not protectable until it is reduced to sheet music and/or lyrics. The mental visualization of an art painting must also be expressed and drawn onto a canvas (whether paper or digital) before it can receive copyright protection – otherwise, it remains merely an idea that is not entitled to copyright protection.

Fourth, your work must be “original”. [9] This means that your work was created by you, and was not merely copied from another work. It does not have to be unique, novel, creative or have any artistic merit to qualify as an original work – even computer instruction manuals are protectable by copyright! [10]

• When does your work become protected by copyright?

Copyright arises immediately upon creation of your work. Assuming that your work meets the above criteria, copyright protection will attach from the very moment it is expressed or fixed in a material form. In the example of an artwork, copyright subsists when you physically draw or paint your art on a canvas.

• Whether registration is required for copyright protection

Since copyright protection arises upon creation, there is no need to register your work. [11] As in most countries, Singapore does not have a copyright registry, and the Ministry of Law has recently stated that the status quo will remain for the foreseeable future. [12]

• Whether you need to include a copyright notice in your work

You do not need a copyright notice for their works to have copyright protection. Putting it in a work does not grant you any additional rights, and not having one does not mean you have waived your rights.

That said, a copyright notice is useful to warn the public that you are asserting copyright over your work, and to prevent would-be infringers from arguing that they had no reasonable grounds to suspect that they are infringing your copyright. [13] This is usually done by including the “©” symbol, the year of first publication of the work and the name of the copyright owner.

• Duration of copyright protection

Different types of works have different durations of copyright protection, as in the table below:

Who owns the copyright in the work?

It is important to note the difference between authorship and ownership of copyright. Authorship refers to the person who created the work. Ownership refers to the person who owns the copyright in a work.

Generally, the author of the work is also the owner of the copyright. [18] But there are exceptions to this general rule:

• When an employee creates a piece of work as part of his job, the employee is the author, but the employer will automatically own the copyright in the work unless there is an agreement to the contrary. [19]
• For journalists, the employer possesses the right to publish and reproduce such works, but journalists still retain the right to publish the work for other purposes such as collation into a book. [20]
• If you are commissioned to create a photograph, portrait, engraving, sound recording or cinematograph film, the person who commissioned or paid for the creation of these works will automatically own the copyright in those works. [21] However, the Ministry of Law intends to change this position such that the creators of these types of commissioned works are the default owners of the copyright instead.

Authors can also transfer ownership of their copyright to another person, by assigning the copyright. [22] The author will no longer own the copyright. The Ministry of Law also intends to introduce a “right of attribution”, such that an author of a work has a personal right to be attributed when his work is used, even if he no longer owns the copyright. [23]

Infringement: when is it unlawful for someone to use my copyrighted work?

Copyright is a bundle of exclusive rights, i.e. only the copyright owner can do certain things with his work, such as reproducing it, performing it in public, publishing it, adapting it, or renting it out. [24]

If a third party does these things without the consent or licence of the copyright owner, and the third party does these things in Singapore, he may be liable for copyright infringement. [25] However, it must be shown that he has taken the whole or “substantial part” of the copyrighted work. [26] There is no definition of a “substantial part” and it differs in every case, but it generally refers to the main value of the copyrighted work.

A third party may also be liable for secondary infringement, where he facilitates and helps others to infringe your copyright.

If your copyright has been infringed, you can take legal action against the infringer. Various remedies are available, including injunctions to stop the infringing activities, monetary compensation, and orders for the infringing copies to be delivered up and destroyed. [27]

You may wish to seek a lawyer to obtain legal advice on the appropriate remedies or enforcement actions in your case.

Defences: When is it lawful for someone to use my copyrighted work?

Not every situation where a third party reproduces or deals in your copyrighted work without your consent is an instance of copyright infringement, as the law recognizes several “fair dealing” defences. If a third party reproduces your work for research and study purposes, for criticism or review purposes, or to report current events, he may not be liable for infringement if he fulfills other statutory requirements. [28]

The Ministry of Law also intends to enhance the fair dealing defences by introducing a purpose-based exception for educational uses. If a copyrighted work is freely accessible online, teachers and students in non-profit schools will be allowed to use it for educational purposes. [29]

How do I commercialize my copyright?

Copyright may be licensed, assigned or transferred in exchange for monetary consideration (i.e. price to use your copyright). [30] Each of the individual exclusive rights can also be dealt with separately. For instance, the copyright owner can license or assign the right to reproduce his work in a material form to one person and the right to perform the work in public to another person. [31] He can also license or assign the copyright in terms of the whole or part of the copyright period or by geographical area [32] It is not uncommon to have a large number of licensees and/or owners of different parts of the copyright in a particular work. [33]

Another option is to appoint a Collective Management Organization (CMO) to manage your copyrighted work for you. The CMO will administer and negotiate licences with third parties on your behalf, collect royalties or fees on your behalf, monitor the use of your works, and help enforce your rights.

Importantly, an assignment of copyright is ineffective unless it is in writing and signed by the copyright owner. [34] It is thus recommended to have a contract to document the assignment of licence. [35] In this case, it will be useful to have a lawyer draft the documents necessary to ensure you are properly paid for the use of your work.

[1] Cap 63, 2006 Rev Ed

[2] https://www.singaporelawwatch.sg/About-Singapore-Law/Commercial-Law/ch-12-intellectual-property-law

[3] https://www.ipos.gov.sg/understanding-innovation-ip/copyright

[4] S 184 Copyright Act, Rules 2 and 3 Copyright (International Protection) Regulations

[5] S 184 Copyright Act, Rules 2 and 3 Copyright (International Protection) Regulations

[6] S 184 Copyright Act, Rules 2 and 3 Copyright (International Protection) Regulations

[7] S 16 Copyright Act

[8] S 17 Copyright Act

[9] S 27 Copyright Act

[10] Novell, Inc v Ong Seow Pheng and others and other actions [1993] 3 SLR(R) 56

[11] https://www.singaporelawwatch.sg/About-Singapore-Law/Commercial-Law/ch-12-intellectual-property-law

[12] Singapore Copyright Review Report, 17 January 2019, Paragraph 2.1

[13] S 119(3) Copyright Act

[14] S 28(2) Copyright Act

[15] S 28(6) Copyright Act

[16] Ss 92, 93 Copyright Act

[17] Ss 94, 95 Copyright Act

[18] S 30 Copyright Act

[19] S 30(6) Copyright Act

[20] S 30(4) Copyright Act

[21] S 30(5) Copyright Act

[22] S 194 Copyright Act

[23] Singapore Copyright Review Report, 17 January 2019, Paragraph 2.4

[24] Ss 26, 84, 85, 86 Copyright Act

[25] Ss 31, 103 Copyright Act

[26] S 10 Copyright Act

[27] S 119 Copyright Act

[28] Ss 35, 36, 37 Copyright Act

[29] Singapore Copyright Review Report, 17 January 2019, Paragraph 2.9

[30] S 194 Copyright Act

[31] S 194 Copyright Act

[32] S 194 Copyright Act

[33] https://www.singaporelawwatch.sg/About-Singapore-Law/Commercial-Law/ch-12-intellectual-property-law

[34] S 194(3) Copyright Act

[35] https://www.ipos.gov.sg/understanding-innovation-ip/copyright/assignment-and-licensing

Have a question on copyright?

If you have any questions on legal clinics, you can get a  Quick Consult with Melvin Pang  or other lawyers. With Quick Consult, from a transparent, flat fee of $49, a lawyer will call you on the phone within 1-2 days to give you legal advice.

This article is written by  Melvin Pang  from  Amica Law  and edited by  Tan Jia Xin  from Asia Law Network.

This article does not constitute legal advice or a legal opinion on any matter discussed and, accordingly, it should not be relied upon. It should not be regarded as a comprehensive statement of the law and practice in this area. If you require any advice or information, please speak to practicing lawyer in your jurisdiction. No individual who is a member, partner, shareholder or consultant of, in or to any constituent part of Interstellar Group Pte. Ltd. accepts or assumes responsibility, or has any liability, to any person in respect of this article.

Melvin Pang

Melvin is a Director of Amica Law LLC and his legal practice primarily focuses on IP litigation and enforcement, managing the trade mark portfolios for both local and international clients as well as handling and advising on pharmaceutical regulatory compliance and the patent linkage process in Singapore. Melvin regularly advises and represents locally listed corporations as well as Fortune 500 companies, including Starbucks and Amazon in the end-to-end protection of their brand and trade mark portfolios beginning with managing the search and registration of their trade marks to appearing at infringement, opposition or invalidation actions at both the Registry and Court-levels to devising and executing anti-counterfeiting and enforcement strategies.

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Assignment of Copyright

The document is primarily intended for use where the assignment is entered into as part of a larger transaction, such as an asset purchase, or to pass title where there is a pre-existing agreement for the creation of the copyright work.

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Students at S’pore universities allowed to use AI tools for assignments but must stick to rules

SINGAPORE - Since 2023, students enrolled in Singapore universities have been allowed to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to complete their assignments, but they cannot flout rules on things like academic honesty and plagiarism.

Incorporating the use of AI tools is aimed at boosting the quality of teaching and learning, and embracing technological advancements, said university lecturers and administrators The Straits Times spoke to.

However, undergraduates are required to adhere to rules and restrictions to make sure they learn to think independently and understand the course material, they added.

The Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), for example, said on its website that students are not to use generative AI as a primary source of information. Instead, they are encouraged to use it as a tool – unless, of course, the assignment is to “critically evaluate the generative AI response”.

Generative AI refers to software or tech tools used to create content like text, images and videos based on prompts from a user. The AI tool is able to learn writing patterns and structures through a training period in which users test and use the software.

It is then able to generate new data that has similar characteristics to what it has learnt. Some examples of generative AI tools are ChatGPT and Sora.

Associate Professor Karin Avnit, who is deputy director at the SIT Teaching and Learning Academy, said the university’s approach is to take advantage of AI tools when they contribute to the learning process and experience.

She said: “We adopted this approach early last year when it became clear that generative AI has a great potential to enhance teaching and learning practices, as well as the potential to change industry practices.”

She added that different disciplines have varying needs in terms of teaching, learning and assessment, and so, “having hard rules may not serve the needs well”.

Prof Avnit said students who use AI tools to generate written work without the required analysis and other requirements of the assignment will not be awarded marks.

The other five public autonomous universities – the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore Management University (SMU), Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), and Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) – all adopt a similar position on the use of AI by students.

For instance, NUS, on its website, said students have to acknowledge the use of AI-generated content through a note or via the methods section at the end of an assignment, and explain “which AI tools were used, in which parts of the process they were used, what were the prompts used to generate results, and what did one do with the outputs to add value”.

NUS education and technology associate provost Melvin Yap said AI can play an important role to unlock, guide and support the development of such skills.

“It is, therefore, important that our students know how to use the AI tools effectively in their studies and in the future when they join the workforce,” he added.

However, Associate Professor Yap added that passing off content that was generated by AI as one’s own work is plagiarism and academic dishonesty, which is prohibited.

“Our students are given guidance on how to correctly acknowledge the use of AI tools in their projects and assignments,” he added.

SUTD on its website said AI tools can be used to enhance students’ learning, but it is “not a replacement for their intellectual contribution”.

It said: “Students can use generative AI tools in class, assignments, assessments, examinations... only when explicitly permitted by the instructor.”

In response to queries, SUTD spokeswoman Tammy Tan said the university “relies on both AI detection tools and instructors to identify the potential use of generative AI”.

She added that students are not given extra marks for not using AI tools, so they have little incentive to not acknowledge its use in their work.

In response to queries, an SUSS spokeswoman said the university has measures in place to ensure the ethical use of AI tools. For instance, it uses a software tool called Turnitin to detect work generated by AI technology.

She added that plagiarism policies are also in place, and if a student is found to have plagiarised schoolwork or is suspected of academic misconduct, SUSS will take steps to determine the originality of the written assignment.

An NTU spokesman, responding to queries, said: “Preventing the use of generative AI in classes will not stop students from using it.

“Hence, it is important that we equip students with the knowledge and skills to use these generative AI technologies productively in an ethical and critical manner... to help them sharpen their cognitive skills.”

In a speech on March 6, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing said: “We see AI as having great potential to disrupt.

“However, if we harness it well, and we manage it well... it will allow us to transcend our constraints of old, to ride the next S-curve of economic growth.”

He added that Singapore’s educational institutions must train a new generation of people that will enable this disruption to be harnessed and managed.

Experts said the move to embrace AI in public universities is a step in the right direction, but it must be managed carefully.

Associate Professor Jason Tan, who teaches at the National Institute of Education, said it is important for students to first understand that one key purpose of higher education is to “provide students with the opportunity to further develop higher-order thinking skills”.

Once students are aware of this, they will understand how to appropriately use AI tools in their education, he added.

Prof Tan said higher-order thinking skills include “gathering, synthesising, organising and evaluating information”, and students require “explicit guidance” for them to know how to best use AI tools.

Dr Felix Tan, who has been teaching at Singapore polytechnics and universities for more than 20 years, said AI tools can help students with framing their thoughts and ideas, but educators should examine written assignments and ensure that a fair amount of work has been put in by the student, and grade it accordingly.

He said: “I will look at whether their essays are supported by legitimate evidence and research. How are the points crafted? Is it well-structured? Did it use the theories that were discussed in class, and how they are applied?

“A good essay should have a voice and an opinion of sorts. It should remain personable but also be backed by academic resources.”

Social sciences undergraduate Geneve Tay, 21, who declined to name the university she attends, said she welcomed the move to allow the use of AI tools for written assignments, and that she has occasionally used such tools in her schoolwork.

She said: “Being allowed to use such tools shows we are progressive and keeping up with technological advancement.

“However, I do not use generative AI often because it requires a lot of work, like tweaking the content it produces and editing it to suit the assignment objectives. Sometimes, it may take even more effort than doing the entire assignment myself.”

Clerical assistant Sujatha Maniam, 53, whose 24-year-old son is a final-year student at NUS, said she was at first concerned when her son said he could use AI tools for schoolwork.

She said: “What’s the point if a computer is going to do all his work for him? Will he learn?”

However, her fears were dispelled when he assured her that he still has to use his own words and not use wholesale whatever is AI-generated, she added.

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