Singapore’s Ministry of Law (MinLaw) and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) published the Copyright (Collective Management Organizations) Regulations 2023 (Regulations) in the Gazette.
The regulations is a subsidiary legislation for a new collective management organization (CMO) class licensing scheme, in line with Copyright Act 2021. The regulations incorporate feedback received by MinLaw and IPOS during the public consultation exercise from November 7, 2022, to January 4, 2023.
The IPOS website describes a CMO as “appointed by rights owners to manage the rights in their copyright works or protected performances. A CMO administers the licensing of rights, collection of royalties and enforcement of rights on behalf of these rights owners. A CMO will then monitor the use of the works and performances and collect licence fees on behalf of the rights owners.”
The class licensing scheme seeks to achieve a well-functioning collective management ecosystem by raising standards of transparency, accountability, efficiency and good governance among CMOs. The scheme applies a light-touch model of regulation targeted at critical areas only, while leaving CMOs the flexibility to operate within those boundaries. The scheme does not interfere in the fees that CMOs charge for using the material they manage; CMOs remain free to determine such fees. Read more