SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Yvonne Tang, Lim Siau Wen and Ruby Tham, Drew & Napier LLC
produced by the collaboration of two or more authors, and the contributions of the authors are not separate. Assuming that the joint authors are the joint owners, the same rights are afforded to each of the joint own - ers (see 3.4 Copyright Rights ), assuming that they are each a qualified individual. Section 146 (1) of the Copyright Act provides that, subject to the provisions of the Act, copyright is infringed if a person does in Singapore, or authorises the doing of in Singapore, any act comprised in the copyright, and the person neither owns the copyright nor has the licence of the copyright owner. Section 100 of the Copyright Act provides that an act comprised in a copyright is any act that, under this Act, the owner of the copyright has the exclusive right to do. In Ng-Loy Wee Loon, Law of Intellectual Property of Singapore (3rd edition, 2021, Sweet & Maxwell) at [10.1.1], footnote 1, it is stated that “[t]he reference to the person not being the copyright owner has significance in cases where the copyright is jointly owned by X and another person(s): since X is one of the copyright owners, he cannot be liable for copyright infringement even if he does the act without the consent of the other joint owner(s)”. The extent to which each author can independently exploit the copyrighted work, and the ownership per - centage, would depend on the facts. Joint authors usually own the copyright as tenants in common, but this is not always the case: see Nanofilm Technologies International Pte Ltd v Semivac International Pte Ltd [2018] 5 SLR 956. 3.4 Copyright Rights Rights Granted to Copyright Owners Rights granted to copyright owners are outlined by the Copyright Act. For instance, Section 112 of the Copy - right Act provides that copyright in a literary, dramatic or musical work is the exclusive right to do all or any of the following acts: • (a) to make a copy of the work; • (b) to publish the work if the work is unpublished; • (c) to perform the work in public; • (d) to communicate the work to the public; • (e) to make an adaptation of the work;
• (f) to do, in relation to an adaptation of the work, any of the acts specified in paragraphs (a) to (e); and • (g) in the case of a computer program – to enter into a commercial rental arrangement the essential object of which is the rental of the program. Section 113 of the Copyright Act provides that copy - right in an artistic work is the exclusive right to do all • to publish the work if it is unpublished; and • to communicate the work to the public. These rights generally persist throughout the term of a copyright. Section 108 (1) of the Copyright Act makes clear that, where a copyright owner has the exclusive right to do an act, the right is a right to exclude others from doing that act (or authorising the doing of that act) without the authorisation of the copyright owner, and it is declared that the right is not a positive right of the copyright owner to do that act. Moral Rights Moral rights are recognised in Singapore. These rights are set out in the Copyright Act, Part 7, Divisions 1 and 2. 3.5 Term of Protection and Termination Duration of Protection The duration of protection would depend on various factors, such as: • whether the copyright work originates from Singa - pore or another jurisdiction; or any of the following acts: • to make a copy of the work; • whether and when the work is first published; • whether and when the work is first made available to the public; and • whether and when the author is identified. Generally, copyright protection for authorial works lasts the lifetime of the author and 70 years thereafter. Copyright protection lasts:
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