Powers of Copyright Tribunal Extended
08 November 2012
The Singapore Parliament has agreed to the proposed changes to the Copyright Act to extend the powers of the Copyright Tribunal to hear license disputes on all types of copyright works, say lawyers at Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow in Singapore, writing in the firm’s Intellectual Property Client Update newsletter.
The main amendments are as follows:
1) The jurisdiction of the Tribunal is to be expanded to allow the Tribunal to hear disputes on all types of copyright works and in relation to all licensable forms of exploitation. This amendment would allow the Tribunal to keep up with the changes in technology and the novel manners in which copyrighted works are being exploited and licensed;
2) The scope of the Tribunal’s jurisdiction is to be refined to cover licensors who are in the business of collectively administering copyright licenses for different copyright owners. The main purpose of this amendment is to have the Tribunal act as a check against collecting societies and commercial agencies who have amassed a wide repertoire of copyright works from potentially abusing their relatively strong bargaining position when negotiating license fees with licensees;
3) The Tribunal is to be empowered to vary the terms of any licence scheme, to the extent of substituting the licence scheme, as deemed reasonable; and
4) The amendments will give the Minister the powers to appoint two more Deputy Presidents and up to 15 members to the Copyright Tribunal (as opposed to the present one President and four other members) to take into account the greater role that the Tribunal will be expected to play once the amendments take effect.
The date when the amendments are to come into effect has not yet been announced.
