SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Yvonne Tang, Lim Siau Wen and Ruby Tham, Drew & Napier LLC
• 25 years from the first publication of a published edition of an authorial work; • 70 years from the first publication/creation of a sound recording; • 70 years from the time a film is first made available to the public/from the creation of the film; and • 50 years from the making of a broadcast/the first inclusion of a cable programme in a cable pro - gramme service. The operative provisions are Sections 114, 119, 122, 125, 128, 129 and 132 of the Copyright Act. For works originating from other jurisdictions, the provisions are Regulations 17 to 21 of the Copyright Regulations 2021. Termination The Copyright Act provides for the duration of copy - right, and does not specify means of “termination” of copyright. 3.6 Collective Rights Management Systems The Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) operating in Singapore include those representing composers and lyricists, major record labels, authors and book publishers, Hollywood studios, and inde - pendent, special interest and local producers. The Copyright Act and its subsidiary legislation, particularly the Copyright (Collective Management Organisations) Regulations 2023, govern these sys - tems. According to the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, a CMO’s role involves the collective man - agement of content usage, encompassing copyright works and protected performances, contributed by various creators such as authors, makers, publishers or performers who are unrelated to the CMO. This management is carried out either as the rights-owner or with the rights-owner’s authority, for the collective benefit of those creators or rights-owners. Further - more, a CMO is responsible for offering one or more tariff schemes to the public in Singapore. Further, a CMO is appointed by rights-owners to man - age the rights in their copyright works or protected performances. A CMO administers the licensing of rights, collection of royalties and enforcement of rights on behalf of these rights-owners. A CMO will then
monitor the use of the works and performances, and will collect licence fees on behalf of the rights-owners. The Regulations do not control the fees/tariff schemes set by a CMO. A CMO is free to make its own policies, as long as they are not inconsistent with the class licence conditions. 3.7 Copyright Registration There is no copyright registration regime in Singapore. 3.8 Copyright Application Requirements There is no copyright registration regime in Singapore. 3.9 Refusal of Registration There is no copyright registration regime in Singapore. 3.10 Related Rights A copyright can also be protected by trade mark or related rights. As it stands, the scope of copyright laws is generally not limited by the trade marks laws. When a trader conducts business under their trade mark in Singapore, it gives rise to goodwill attaching to their business. This goodwill is protected by the common law tort of passing off. Concurrently, the registration of a trade mark under the Trade Marks Act confers upon the registered pro - prietor the exclusive rights to use that mark and to obtain relief for infringement. There is no requirement for the proprietor to have used their mark. To obtain registration, the mark must be free from absolute and relative grounds for refusal of registration. The standards for registration are the same for different types of marks, though in practice it may be more difficult for certain types of marks to be registered (eg, shape marks or non-conventional marks such as 4. Trade Mark Registrations and Applications 4.1 Trade Mark Registration
scent marks or sound marks). 4.2 Trade Mark Register
The Registrar maintains a register of trade marks. The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore provides free trade mark search tools which are available through
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