SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Yvonne Tang, Lim Siau Wen and Ruby Tham, Drew & Napier LLC
12. Additional Considerations 12.1 Emerging Issues Artificial Intelligence (AI) Singapore aims to be a global hub for devel - oping, test-bedding, deploying and scaling AI solutions. It was observed in the 2019 Singapore Copyright Review Report, published by the Sin - gapore government, that “text and data mining and its applications are crucial to fuelling eco - nomic growth and supporting Singapore’s drive to catalyse innovation in the digital economy”. To support Singapore’s efforts to grow its AI sector, a copyright exception for computational data analysis (which by definition includes text and data mining) activities was introduced in November 2021 (the “TDM exception”). The TDM exception permits the copying or com - munication of a copy of a work or recording of a performance if the copy is made for the pur - poses of computational analysis or preparing the work for computational data analysis, pro - vided certain conditions are met that were put in place to safeguard the commercial interests of the copyright owners (for instance, that the user must have lawful access to the works that are copied). The TDM exception applies only to acts performed in Singapore. The TDM excep - tion is potentially far-reaching as it may not be excluded by contract and extends to both non- commercial and commercial activities. However, the operation and limits of the TDM exception are untested in the Singapore courts. A report (“When Code Creates: A Landscape Report on Issues at the Intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property Law”), pub - lished on 28 February 2024 by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore and the Singapore Management University, observed that under Singapore law the author of authorial works –
ie, literary, dramatic, musical, artistic works – must be a natural person, and concluded that under the current position an AI system cannot be named as an author. There have not been any reported trade mark or copyright decisions pertaining to generative AI in Singapore. Outcomes in the UK, EU and USA on these issues would very likely be considered by Singa - pore courts when determining the same issues. 12.2 Trade Mark and Copyright Use on the Internet “Site-Blocking” Orders A copyright owner or its exclusive licensee may apply to the General Division of the High Court for a “site-blocking” order (an access-disabling order) to require a network connection provid - er to take reasonable steps to disable access to an online location that has been or is being used to flagrantly commit or facilitate copyright infringements. “Dynamic” injunctions requiring the network connection provider to block any new means (for instance, additional domain names, URL and/or IP addresses) of accessing the same infringing online locations have also been granted in recent years. Commercial Dealings With a Device or Service Capable of Facilitating Access to an Infringing Work Protected by Copyright Commercial dealing (including sale or distribu - tion) by a person of a device capable of facilitat - ing access (for example, set-top boxes or other devices containing pre-loaded applications that stream infringing materials) or the provision of a service that facilitates access to an infring - ing copyrighted work is an infringement of the copyright in a work, if the person knows or ought
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