Law Ministry, Ipos seek public feedback on copyrighted works

Source:-straitstimes

The Ministry of Law (MinLaw) and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (Ipos) launched a public consultation yesterday to seek feedback on whether existing exceptions that allow for the digital reproduction of copyrighted works – for purposes such as teaching and fixing key system software – are still relevant.

The public consultation will run for four weeks until Oct 2, and is part of a periodic review of the Copyright (Excluded Works) Order (EWO) to take into account the fast pace of technological change, MinLaw said.

Copyrighted works are typically protected by technologies or devices that prevent, for example, users from making unauthorised copies of a movie.

The Copyright Act prohibits users from circumventing such protection measures or from selling products and services that allow others to do so.

“However, in practice, (such measures) may unintentionally restrict legitimate and non-infringing acts,” said a MinLaw spokesman.

For instance, individuals with visual or physical disabilities that make reading difficult or impossible may require assistive technologies that convert text into audio.

This is allowed under the current exceptions.

Other exceptions include the use of copyrighted works when investigating or fixing cyber-security flaws, and when replacing or repairing essential system software.

The public consultation is meant to seek feedback from creators and users of copyrighted works, as well as the general public, on whether the exceptions should be retained, expanded or limited when the EWO is updated, and if additional exceptions are necessary.

MinLaw and Ipos released a 70-page report in January last year that proposed 16 changes to the Copyright Act, including recommending two new exceptions designed to improve access to copyrighted works for the purposes of public interest.

The first proposal was to allow non-profit schools and their students to use free online resources for teaching purposes. The existing exceptions generally cover only copying a portion of a work.

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The second suggested that a new exception be made for those who use automated techniques such as machine learning to analyse text, data and other content to generate insights.