IN THEIR respective letters, Dr Edmund Lam ("Tune in to copyright protection"; Tuesday) and Mr Chen Yongjie ("Lax enforcement of music copyright laws"; last Saturday) raised valid concerns.
Online piracy is an international issue. It is a continual challenge to strike a balance between curbing online piracy and ensuring that content remains accessible on the Internet, not least to spur greater creativity.
Singapore adopts a multi-pronged approach in curbing piracy. Public education remains the primary and most important approach. It has to be a sustained effort.
The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore runs the Honour Intellectual Property programme, which comprises a series of outreach initiatives such as the World IP Day celebrations, to raise awareness and promote respect for intellectual property among youth and the public.
Encouraging legitimate avenues for online content delivery is another prong in our approach to curb online piracy.
Spotify, iTunes, SingTel's AMPed Music Service and others have introduced their services in Singapore over the past two years.
We will continue to work with the industry to make more of such services available for Singaporeans.
We have also taken note of the industry's concerns that prevalent online piracy is adversely affecting Singapore's creative industries, and are exploring how to enable rights holders to protect their rights more effectively against pirate websites that blatantly infringe copyright.
We will be undertaking a public consultation soon on the proposed approach.
We remain committed to building an environment where the hard work of creators will continue to be respected, while not stifling the flow of content.
ILLEGAL MUSIC DOWNLOADS
Clarify law and enforce it
AS A musician, I fully understand Mr Chen Yongjie's frustration at the lack of strict enforcement of music copyright laws ("Lax enforcement of music copyright laws"; last Saturday).
Clarify law and enforce it
AS A musician, I fully understand Mr Chen Yongjie's frustration at the lack of strict enforcement of music copyright laws ("Lax enforcement of music copyright laws"; last Saturday).
The State has to implement more stringent checks on non-payment of music copyright dues.
Addressing the widespread illegal downloading of music, however, is much more onerous.
First, the problem is prevalent because of the low risk of individual prosecution.
Since 2005, it has been a criminal offence to download music illegally for personal use, but only if the infringement is "significant".
The result of allowing this ambiguity to persist is that many have got away with it.
Second, illegal downloading of music has become a social norm. Being in the majority engenders the "safety net" mentality ("They can't possibly jail all of us, right?").
This could also explain why the law is not being strictly enforced. Throwing a lot of people into jail or fining them would be an administrative nightmare.
Various solutions have been mooted, such as site-banning and public education - both of which are ineffectual.
Site-banning is analogous to banning knives to prevent murders; if murderers can find other weapons, illegal downloaders can find other sites.
Similarly, the effectiveness of public education is limited; it will never provide a sufficiently strong deterrent.
Prosecution is key, since the fear of it is incontrovertibly effective in Singapore.
However, the law should first be clarified. The keyword "significant" should be clearly defined or even removed.
Thereafter, enforcement should be stepped up. A transition period could be implemented to give individuals time to remove their illegal music collections.
Only when individuals are prosecuted can the "safety net" mindset be changed, and Singapore be seen as an intellectual property hub.
Tan Yu Song
ST Forum, 27 Mar 2014
ST Forum, 27 Mar 2014
Tune in to copyright protection
MR CHEN Yongjie suggested that music copyright organisations are not effective in enforcing the rights of their members, especially in licensing commercial retailers and eateries ("Lax enforcement of music copyright laws"; last Saturday).
The Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (Compass) has been largely successful in the promotion and protection of the copyright interest of its members, who are composers, lyricists and music publishers.
Through education and dialogue with various industry bodies, nearly all commercial retailers and restaurants have taken up an annual licence from Compass to broadcast background music or perform music live.
For a minority of outlets infringing copyright law, we take a calibrated approach - preferring to use legal action only as a last resort if counselling and warnings fail.
However, under the existing Copyright Act, sound recordings of musical works are not accorded any public performance or broadcast rights. For example, when a commercial shop plays a CD for background music, its only legal obligation is to obtain the consent of the composers, through Compass, of the musical works embedded within the CD. These outlets do not need a licence from the Recording Industry Performance Singapore, as claimed by Mr Chen.
Unfortunately, the same respect for copyright by these commercial outlets has not been extended to the online world. Rampant illegal downloading of music, movies and books remains a serious threat to the creative industries.
Creators of original works need to be fairly remunerated.
The music industry has been urging the introduction of public performance and broadcast rights for sound recordings. This would compensate the significant effort expended to produce a music recording.
We also need to amend the Copyright Law to allow copyright owners to legally apply to a relevant authority to block illegal sites flouting copyright, which I had advocated previously ("Be global leader in fighting piracy"; Oct 23, 2013).
The music industry has already ensured that an array of legal music services are affordable and easily accessible to the public. YouTube, AMPed, Spotify, KKBOX and iTunes are such services, and more are expected to be launched soon.
Educating our young to respect intellectual property is still the way forward. The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, in collaboration with the creative communities, has embarked on various public education initiatives, especially in schools.
Ultimately, we have to impress upon society that respect for intellectual property is essential for the progress of science and useful arts.
Edmund Lam (Dr)
Chief Executive Officer & Director
Composers and Authors Society of Singapore
ST Forum, 25 Mar 2014
Chief Executive Officer & Director
Composers and Authors Society of Singapore
ST Forum, 25 Mar 2014
Lax enforcement of music copyright laws
I HAVE read reports and heard people talk about illegal music downloads ("1 in 2 S'poreans downloads illegal music, videos: Poll"; Wednesday).
Musicians put in much time and effort to create works from scratch, especially independent music creators who spend money on recording studios and other equipment just to produce a single track.
Too many people take them for granted and do not understand their pain. To them, music is free and it is easy to compose a song.
As a music director, I know how easy it is to find out if people are downloading music illegally and if commercial organisations are paying their music copyright dues.
But no government body is tackling this problem despite Singapore being a "top intellectual property hub" in the region.
In Malaysia, music copyright organisations do thorough checks on commercial retailers and eateries.
Another article ("Music royalties - 7 in 10 shops not paying up: Study"; June 8, 2013) said seven out of 10 commercial entities infringe the Copyright Act by playing background music without paying for the appropriate licence.
It is not just the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore licensing fee that they need to pay; most also need to pay a fee to the Recording Industry Performance Singapore.
But nothing much is being done. I wonder what type of mindset we are cultivating with respect to copyrights.
Chen Yongjie
ST Forum, 22 Mar 2014
ST Forum, 22 Mar 2014
1 in 2 S'poreans download illegal music, videos: Poll
By Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh, The Straits Times, 19 Mar 2014
By Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh, The Straits Times, 19 Mar 2014
MORE than half of Singaporeans download music and videos illegally, even while they condemn piracy as a form of theft.
A survey of 900 people last year by Singapore-based research consultancy Sycamore Research and Marketing showed that 61 per cent of people here aged 16 to 64 download movies and videos illegally over the Internet. And 17 per cent do so at least once a week.
This is even though 66 per cent conceded what they were doing was stealing.
Over 180 people from the media and creative industries were told of the findings yesterday at an event at GV Grand cinema.
Mr Ang Kwee Tiang, regional director of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, said the local music recording industry was in dire straits and urged responsible online behaviour. What was an almost $90 million industry in 1997 made just $20 million in 2012, Mr Ang said.
This despite the availability of "legal and reasonably priced alternatives in Singapore" like Amped, a streaming service, and Rdio, an Internet radio service, he added.
He called for quick steps to make illegal content less available - a challenge when most illegal content is easily accessible and hosted overseas.
Piracy is rampant among youth in particular, with seven out of 10 between the ages of 16 and 24 downloading illegal content.
Some said piracy has become such a social norm that they do not think twice about it.
"Everybody does it and everybody is used to it, so it doesn't feel like a crime," said a 29-year-old marketing manager, who visits piracy site The Pirate Bay to download United States TV shows at least twice a week.