Interpretation and scope of this Division
259.—(1) In this Division —“musical work” means a musical work in its original form or an adaptation of the work;
“owner”, in relation to the copyright in a literary, dramatic or musical work, means, unless the contrary intention appears, the person who is entitled to authorise the making in, and the importation into, Singapore of records of the works;
“record”, in relation to a musical work, excludes a soundtrack of a film;
“sale by retail” or “retail sale”, in relation to a record, does not include —(a)
sale for a consideration that does not consist wholly of money; or
(b)
sale by a person who does not ordinarily carry on the business of making or selling records.
(2) For the purposes of this Division, where a musical work is comprised partly in one record and partly in another record or other records, all the records are treated as a single record.
(3) Subject to section 260(4), this Division applies in relation to a record of a part of a musical work as it applies in relation to a record of the whole of the work.
Conditions for making musical records
260.—(1) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), it is a permitted use for a person (X) to make a record of a musical work (or of an adaptation of the work) if —(a)
the record is made in Singapore;
(b)
other records of the work (or of a similar adaptation of the work) have previously been made in Singapore, or imported into Singapore, for retail sale or for making further records for retail sale;
(c)
those other records were made or imported by or with the licence of the copyright owner;
(d)
before making the record, X gives the prescribed notice to the copyright owner;
(e)
X intends to —(i)
sell the record by retail;
(ii)
supply the record to another person for it to be sold by retail; or
(iii)
use the record to make other records to be sold by retail or supplied to other persons to be sold by retail; and
(f)
in the case of paragraph (e)(i) or (ii), X pays to the copyright owner the prescribed royalty in the prescribed manner and within the prescribed time.
(2) Subsection (1)(b) and (c) is deemed to be satisfied if X, or any person that makes an agreement with X to make and supply the record —(a)
makes the prescribed inquiries; and
(b)
receives no answer within the prescribed time.
(3) Subsection (1) does not apply to making a record of an adaptation of a musical work if the adaptation debases the work.
(4) Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to —(a)
a record of the whole of a musical work unless the previous records mentioned in subsection (1)(b) are records of the whole of the work; and
(b)
a record of a part of a musical work unless the previous records mentioned in subsection (1)(b) are records of, or include, that part of the work.
Conditions for including literary or dramatic work in musical records
261.—(1) This section applies where —(a)
a person (X) makes a record of a performance of a musical work; and
(b)
in the recorded performance, some or all of the words of a literary or dramatic work are sung, or spoken, incidentally to or in association with the music.
(2) The making of the record is a permitted use of the literary or dramatic work if —(a)
the record is made in Singapore;
(b)
either —(i)
the making of the record is a permitted use of the musical work under section 260; or
(ii)
copyright does not subsist in the musical work;
(c)
records of the musical work have previously been made in Singapore, or imported into Singapore, for retail sale or for making other records for retail sale;
(d)
those records were made or imported by or with the licence of the owner of the copyright in the literary or dramatic work;
(e)
in those records, the words mentioned in subsection (1) or substantially similar words are sung, or spoken, incidentally to or in association with the music;
(f)
before making the record, X gives the prescribed notice to the owner of the copyright in the literary or dramatic work; and
(g)
X pays to the owner of the copyright in the literary or dramatic work the prescribed royalty in the prescribed manner and within the prescribed time.
(3) Subsection (2)(c) and (d) is deemed to be satisfied if X or the person selling the record —(a)
makes the prescribed inquiries; and
(b)
receives no answer within the prescribed time.
Regulations and inquiry on amount of royalties
262.—(1) The Minister may make regulations to prescribe the royalty payable to a copyright owner under this Division, including any minimum royalty and any circumstances in which no royalty or no further royalty needs to be paid or apportioned.
(2) The Minister may request a Copyright Tribunal to inquire into and report on whether the royalty prescribed under subsection (1) is equitable (whether generally or for a class of records).
(3) Where a report is made under subsection (2) in respect of a class of records (whether or not the report is confined to those records), the Minister may not request another inquiry in respect of that class of records within 5 years after the report is made.
(4) To avoid doubt, the power to make regulations under subsection (1) does not depend on and is not limited by subsections (2) and (3).
(5) In this section, “Minister” means the Minister charged with the responsibility for trade and industry.
Regulations on other matters
263. The Minister may prescribe any matter for the purpose of this Division (other than matters that may be prescribed under section 262), including —(a)
the manner in which, and the time within which, the royalty for a record must be paid;
(b)
requiring the royalty (or any part of the royalty) for a record is to be paid before the record is sold or supplied by the person making the record;
(c)
providing that the royalty for a record is deemed to be paid —(i)
by doing a specified act that the Minister considers convenient for ensuring that the copyright owner receives the royalty; or
(ii)
if the copyright owner cannot be found by reasonable inquiry — by doing a specified act that the Minister considers reasonable; and
(d)
any other circumstances in which the royalty is deemed to be paid.
Modifications relating to records made before 10 April 1987
264.—(1) This section applies to a record made before 10 April 1987 of a musical work.
(2) If the record is made by (or with the consent or acquiescence of) the owner of the copyright in the work under the 1911 Act, the record is deemed, for the purposes of this Division —(a)
to have been made in Singapore for the purpose of retail sale; and
(b)
to have been so made by or with the licence of the person who is entitled under this Act to authorise the making in Singapore of records of the work.
(3) The following written laws as in force immediately before 10 April 1987 continue to apply in relation to the record:(a)
section 19(2) to (7) of the 1911 Act;
(b)
subject to that section, any regulations made for the purposes of that section.
Source: Singapore Statutes Online (Attorney-General's Chambers), © Government of Singapore.
