# Copyright Act 1987 (Singapore)/Part XI

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PART XI TRANSITIONAL
Division 1—Preliminary
Interpretation
205.—(1) In this Part, the expression “photograph” shall, in lieu of the meaning given to that expression by section 7, have the meaning given by subsection (2).
(2) For the purposes of any provision of this Part that provides that an expression is to have the meaning given to that expression by this section or that refers to an expression as defined by this section—
    “collective works” means—
       (a) an encyclopaedia, dictionary, year book or similar work;
       (b) a newspaper, review, magazine or similar periodical; or
       (c) a work written in distinct parts by different authors, or in which works or parts of works of different authors are incorporated;
    “deliver”, in relation to a lecture, includes deliver by means of a mechanical instrument;
    “dramatic work” includes a piece for recitation, a choreographic work or entertainment in dumb show the scenic arrangement or acting form of which is fixed in writing or otherwise, and a cinematograph production where the arrangement, the acting form or the combination of incidents represented gives the work an original character;
    “lecture” includes an address, speech and sermon;
    “literary work” includes a map, chart, plan, table and compilation;
    “perform”, in relation to a dramatic work as defined by this section or a musical work, means make an acoustic representation of the work or a visual representation of a dramatic action in the work, and includes make such a representation by means of a mechanical instrument;
    “photograph” includes photo-lithograph and a work produced by a process similar to photography.
References to making of works, recordings and films
206. For the purposes of any reference in this Part to works, sound recordings or cinematograph films made before the commencement of this Act, a work, sound recording or cinematograph film the making of which extended over a period shall be deemed not to have been made before the commencement of this Act unless the making of it was completed before the commencement of this Act.
References in other laws or instruments to copyright
207.—(1) Without prejudice to the operation of the other provisions of this Part—
    (a) a reference in any other written law or in any contract, agreement or other instrument to a provision of the Copyright Act 1911 shall be read as a reference, or as including a reference, to the corresponding provision of this Act;
    (b) a reference in any other written law or in any contract, agreement or other instrument to copyright or to works in which copyright subsists shall, if apart from this Act it would be read as a reference to copyright under the Copyright Act 1911 or to works in which copyright subsisted under that Act, be read as a reference, or as including a reference, to copyright under this Act or to works or any other subject-matter in which copyright subsists under this Act, as the case may be; and
    (c) a reference in any other written law or in any contract, agreement or other instrument to the grant of an interest in copyright by licence shall be read, in relation to copyright under this Act, as a reference to the grant of a licence in respect of that copyright.
(2) This section shall have effect unless the contrary intention appears in any other written law or in the contract, agreement or other instrument, as the case may be.
Authorship of photographs
208. A reference in this Act to the author of a photograph shall, in relation to a photograph taken before the commencement of this Act, be read as a reference to the person who, at the time when the photograph was taken, was the owner of the material on which the photograph was taken.
Publication
209.—(1) For the purposes of the application of section 24(5) in determining whether a publication that took place before the commencement of this Act was the first publication, the reference in that section to a period of not more than 30 days shall be read as a reference to a period of not more than 14 days.
​(2) For the purposes of the application of section 24(7) in relation to an act done before the commencement of this Act—
    (a) a reference in that section to copyright shall include a reference to copyright under the Copyright Act 1911; and
    (b) a reference in that section to the licence of the owner of copyright shall be read as a reference to the consent or acquiescence of the owner.
Division 2—Original Works
Expired copyright not to revive
210.—(1) Notwithstanding anything in Part III, copyright shall not subsist by virtue of that Part in a work first published before the commencement of this Act unless copyright subsisted in the work under the Copyright Act 1911 immediately before the commencement of this Act.
(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply in relation to a work to which Division 5 applies.
Original works in which copyright subsists
211.—(1) Section 27(1) shall apply to works made before the commencement of this Act as if each reference in that subsection to a qualified person included a reference to a British subject and to a person domiciled in a country to which the Copyright Act 1911 extended.
(2) Section 27(2) shall apply to works first published before the commencement of this Act—
    (a) as if each reference in paragraph (c) of that subsection to Singapore included a reference to a country to which the Copyright Act 1911 extended; and
    (b) as if paragraphs (d) and (e) of that subsection were omitted.
(3) Section 27(2) shall apply to works that are first published after the commencement of this Act and the author of which died before the commencement of the repealed Citizenship Ordinance 1957 as if the reference in paragraph (e) of that section to a qualified person included ​a reference to a person who would have been a citizen of Singapore if that Act had been in force immediately before his death.
(4) Section 27(3) shall not apply to or in relation to a building that was constructed before the commencement of this Act.
(5) This section shall have effect subject to section 210.
Duration of copyright in photographs
212. Section 28(6) shall not apply in relation to a photograph taken before the commencement of this Act but, subject to section 27(2) as affected by section 207, copyright subsisting in such a photograph by virtue of Part III shall continue to subsist until the expiration of 50 years after the expiration of the calendar year in which the photograph was taken.
Ownership of copyright
213.—(1) Section 30(4) and (6) shall not apply in relation to works made before the commencement of this Act.
(2) Section 30(5) shall not apply in relation to a work that was or is made in pursuance of an agreement made before the commencement of this Act.
(3) Where a work is excluded from the application of section 30(4), (5) or (6) by reason of either of subsection (1) or (2), section 30(2) shall have effect in relation to the work subject to subsections (4) to (8).
(4) The operation of any of subsections (5) to (8) in relation to a particular work may be excluded or modified by agreement.
(5) Where, in the case of a work being a photograph, portrait or engraving—
    (a) a person made, for valuable consideration, an agreement with another person for the taking of the photograph, the painting or drawing of the portrait or the making of the engraving by the other person; and
    (b) the work was made in pursuance of the agreement,
​the first-mentioned person is the owner of any copyright subsisting in the work by virtue of Part III.
(6) Where the work was made by the author in pursuance of the terms of his employment by another person under a contract of service or apprenticeship, that other person is the owner of any copyright subsisting in the work by virtue of Part III.
(7) Where the work is a literary, dramatic or artistic work that was made by the author in pursuance of the terms of his employment by the proprietor of a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical under a contract of service or apprenticeship and was so made for the purpose of publication in a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical, the author is entitled to restrain the publication of the work otherwise than in a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical.
(8) In subsections (5), (6) and (7), expressions that are defined by section 205 shall have the meanings respectively given to those expressions by that section and shall not have the meanings, if any, respectively given to those expressions by Part II.
Recording of musical works
214.—(1) Where a record of a work has, before the commencement of this Act, been made by, or with the consent or acquiescence of, the owner of the copyright in the work under the Copyright Act 1911, Division 8 of Part III shall have the like effect as if the record had been made in Singapore for the purpose of retail sale and had been so made by, or with the licence of, the person who is entitled, by virtue of this Act, to authorise the making in Singapore of records of the work.
(2) Notwithstanding section 203, section 19(2) to (7) of the Copyright Act 1911 as in force immediately before the commencement of this Act shall continue to apply in relation to records made before the commencement of this Act and, subject to that section, any regulations made for the purposes of that section and in force immediately before the commencement of this Act shall continue to apply in relation to those records.
​Publication of artistic works
215. Section 66 shall not apply in relation to a painting, drawing, engraving, photography or cinematograph film made before the date of commencement of this Act, but the copyright in an artistic work is not infringed by the publication of a painting, drawing, engraving, photograph or cinematograph film made before that date if, by virtue of section 63 or 64, the making of the painting, drawing, engraving, photograph or film would not have constituted an infringement of the copyright under this Act if this Act had been in operation at the time when it was made.
Reconstruction of buildings
216. The reference in section 72(2) to construction of a building by, or with the licence of, the owner of the copyright in architectural drawings or plans shall be read as including a reference to construction by, or with the licence of, the person who, at the time of the construction, was the owner of the copyright in the drawings or plans.
Industrial designs
217.—(1) Division 10 of Part III and the Schedule shall not apply to artistic works made before the commencement of this Act.
(2) Copyright shall not subsist by virtue of this Act in an artistic work made before the commencement of this Act which, at the time when the work was made, constituted a design capable of being registered under the Patents and Designs Act 1907 of the United Kingdom, and was used, or intended to be used, as a model or pattern to be multiplied by an industrial process.
Reproduction of work upon payment of royalties
218.—(1) The copyright in a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work that has been published before the commencement of this Act is not infringed by the reproduction of the work for sale if—
    (a) the reproduction takes place at a time after expiration of 25 years, or, in the case of a work in which copyright subsisted at the commencement of the Copyright Act 1911, after the ​expiration of 30 years, after the date of the death of the author; and
    (b) the person reproducing the work establishes—
       (i) that, before the commencement of this Act, he gave the notice in writing of his intention to reproduce the work that was prescribed for the purposes of the proviso to section 3 of the Copyright Act 1911; and
       (ii) that he has paid, in the manner that was prescribed for the purposes of that proviso, or is prescribed for the purposes of this section, as the case may be, to, or for the benefit of, the owner of the copyright royalties in respect of all copies of the work sold by him calculated at the rate of 10 per cent of the price at which he published the reproduction.
(2) The regulations may make provision for or in relation to the manner in which, and the times at which, payment of royalties is to be made for the purposes of paragraph (b)(ii) of subsection (1) and may include provision requiring payment in advance, or otherwise securing the payment of the royalties.
(3) A reference in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) to a time after the expiration of a specified number of years from the date of the death of the author of a work shall, in the case of a work of joint authorship, be read as a reference to a time after—
    (a) the expiration of the same number of years from the date of the death of the author who died first; or
    (b) the date of the death of the author who died last,
whichever is the later.
(4) Where a literary, dramatic or musical work, or an engraving, in which copyright subsisted at the date of the death of the author or, in the case of a work of joint authorship, at or immediately before the date of the death of the author who died last—
    (a) had not been published;
    (b) in the case of a dramatic or musical work—had not been performed in public; and
    (c) in the case of a lecture—had not been delivered in public,
before that date, subsection (1) shall apply as if the author had died on the date on which—
    (d) in the case of a literary work (other than a lecture) or an engraving—the work was first published;
    (e) in the case of a dramatic or musical work—the work was first published or first performed in public, whichever first happened; or
    (f) in the case of a lecture—the lecture was first published or first delivered in public, whichever first happened.
(5) In this section, expressions that are defined by section 205 shall have the meanings respectively given to those expressions by that section and do not have the meanings, if any, respectively given to those expressions by Part II.
Division 3—Subject-Matter other than Works
Sound recordings
219.—(1) Section 87(1) shall apply in relation to sound recordings made before the commencement of this Act as if the reference in that section to a qualified person included a reference to a British subject and to a person domiciled in a country to which the Copyright Act 1911 extended.
(2) Section 87(2) shall not apply in relation to a sound recording made before the commencement of this Act.
(3) Section 87(3) shall apply in relation to sound recordings first published before the commencement of this Act as if the reference in that subsection to Singapore included a reference to a country to which the Copyright Act 1911 extended.
(4) Section 92 shall not apply in relation to a sound recording made before the commencement of this Act but copyright subsisting in such a recording by virtue of section 87(1) or (3) shall continue to subsist until the expiration of 50 years after the expiration of the calendar year in which the recording was made.
​Cinematograph films
220. Copyright shall not subsist by virtue of section 88 in a cinematograph film made before the commencement of this Act.
Application of Act to dramatic works and photographs comprised in cinematograph films
221.—(1) Where a cinematograph film made before the commencement of this Act was an original dramatic work as defined by section 205, this Act (other than this subsection) shall have effect in relation to the film as if the film had been an original dramatic work as defined by section 7 and the person who was the author of the work for the purposes of the Copyright Act 1911 shall be deemed to be the author of the work for the purposes of this Act as having effect by virtue of this subsection.
(2) This Act shall have effect in relation to photographs forming part of a cinematograph film made before the commencement of this Act in like manner as it has effect in relation to photographs not forming part of a cinematograph film.
Television broadcasts and sound broadcasts
222. Copyright shall not subsist by virtue of section 89 in —
    (a) a television broadcast or a sound broadcast made before the commencement of this Act; or
    (b) a television broadcast or a sound broadcast made after the commencement of this Act that is a repetition of a television broadcast or a sound broadcast made before the commencement of this Act.
Published editions of works
223. Copyright shall not subsist by virtue of section 91 in a published edition of a work or works where the first publication of the edition took place before the commencement of this Act.
​Cable programmes
224. Copyright shall not subsist by virtue of section 90 in a cable programme which is included in a cable programme service before the commencement of this Act.
Division 4—Miscellaneous
Actions for infringement
225. Sections 119 and 120 shall not apply to an infringement of copyright under the Copyright Act 1911 and shall not affect any proceedings under that Act, whether instituted before or after the commencement of this Act.
Actions where copyright subject to exclusive licence
226. Division 3 of Part V shall not apply in relation to a licence granted before the commencement of this Act and shall not affect any proceedings under the Copyright Act 1911, whether instituted before or after the commencement of this Act.
Offences
227. For the purposes of Division 5 of Part V, the definition of “infringing copy” in section 7 shall apply as if any reference in that definition to copyright included a reference to copyright under the Copyright Act 1911.
Limitation of actions
228. Section 141 shall not apply in relation to an infringement of copyright under the Copyright Act 1911 or to an article made, or imported into Singapore, before the commencement of this Act.
Restriction of importation of printed copies of works
229. Where—
    (a) before the date of commencement of this Act, a notice had been given in respect of a work under section 14 of the Copyright Act 1911 as amended in its application to Singapore; and
    (b) that notice had not been withdrawn, and had not otherwise ceased to have effect, before that date,
the notice shall, during the period of 6 months commencing on that date, have such effect (if any) as it would have if it had been duly given in accordance with section 142.
References and applications to Tribunal in relation to licence schemes
230.—(1) Part VII shall apply in relation to licence schemes formulated before the date of commencement of this Act in like manner as it applies in relation to licence schemes formulated on or after that date, but, for the purposes of the application of that Part in relation to licence schemes formulated before that date, any reference in that Part to copyright includes a reference to copyright under the Copyright Act 1911.
(2) Any reference in section 163 to a refusal or failure to grant or procure the grant of a licence, or to a proposal that a licence should be granted, shall not include a reference to a refusal or failure that occurred, or a proposal that was made, before the commencement of this Act.
Duration of Government copyright in photographs
231. Section 197(4) shall apply in relation to photographs taken before the commencement of this Act as if the proviso to that subsection were omitted.
Duration of Government copyright in recordings
232. Section 197(5) shall apply in relation to sound recordings made before the commencement of this Act as if the reference in that section to the expiration of the calendar year in which the recording is first published were a reference to the expiration of the calendar year in which the recording was made.
Government copyright in films
233.—(1) Section 197(5) shall not apply in relation to cinematograph films made before the commencement of this Act.
​(2) Where section 197(5) does not apply in relation to a cinematograph film by reason of subsection (1)—
    (a) if the film was an original dramatic work as defined by section 205—section 197(1), (2) and (3), shall apply, in relation to that work in accordance with section 221(1); and
    (b) section 197(1), (2) and (3) as modified by section 231, shall apply in relation to photographs forming part of the film in like manner as they apply in relation to photographs not forming part of a cinematograph film.
Works made or published by international organisations
234.—(1) Section 185(3) shall not apply in relation to works made before the commencement of this Act.
(2) Section 185(4) shall not apply in relation to works first published before the commencement of this Act.
Subject-matter, other than original works, made or published by international organisations
235.—(1) Section 185(3) shall not apply in relation to sound recordings or cinematograph films made before the commencement of this Act.
(2) Section 185(4) shall not apply in relation to sound recordings or cinematograph films first published before the commencement of this Act.
(3) Section 185(5) shall not apply in relation to an edition published before the commencement of this Act.
False attribution of authorship of work
236.—(1) It is a breach of the duty imposed on a person by section 188 if the person does, on or after the date of commencement of this Act, any of the acts mentioned in subsection (1)(b) and (c) of that section notwithstanding that the name concerned was inserted or affixed before that date.
(2) Subject to subsection (1), Part IX shall not apply in relation to acts done before the commencement of this Act.
​(3) In this section, “name” includes initials or a monogram.
Assignments and licences
237.—(1) Subject to this section, where copyright subsists in a work by virtue of this Act, any document that was made, or event that occurred, before the commencement of this Act, being a document or event that had any operation affecting the ownership of, or creating, transferring or terminating an interest, right or licence in respect of, copyright in the work under the Copyright Act 1911 or would have had such an operation if that Act had continued in force, shall have the like operation in relation to the copyright in the work under this Act.
(2) If the operation of a document to which subsection (1) applies was or would have been limited to a period specified in the document, the document shall not have any operation in relation to the copyright under this Act, except insofar as that period extends after the commencement of this Act.
(3) For the purposes of the operation of a document in accordance with this section—
    (a) expressions used in the document shall have the same respective meanings as they had immediately before the commencement of this Act, whether or not those expressions have different meanings for the purposes of this Act; and
    (b) section 195(1) shall not apply.
(4) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), where the author of a work that was made before the commencement of this Act was the first owner of the copyright in the work—
    (a) any assignment of the copyright, or any grant of an interest in the copyright, made by the author (otherwise than by will) after the commencement of the Copyright Act 1911 and before the commencement of this Act, being an assignment or grant that has effect in relation to copyright in the work under this Act by virtue of subsection (1), shall not operate to vest in the assignee or grantee any rights with respect to the copyright in the work after the expiration of 25 years after the date of the death of the author;
    (b) on the death of the author, the reversionary interest in the copyright expectant on the termination of that period shall devolve, notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary, on his legal personal representative as part of his estate; and
    (c) any agreement entered into by the author as to the disposition of that reversionary interest is of no force or effect,
but nothing in this subsection shall be taken to apply to the assignment of the copyright in a collective work or a licence to publish a work or a part of a work as part of a collective work.
(5) In subsection (4), expressions that are defined by section 205 have the meanings respectively given to those expressions by that section and shall not have the meanings, if any, respectively given to those expressions by Part II.
(6) Subsections (1) to (5) shall apply in relation to copyright under this Act in a sound recording or in a cinematograph film in like manner as they apply in relation to copyright in a work but a reference in those subsections to the copyright under the Copyright Act 1911 shall—
    (a) in the application of those subsections in relation to a sound recording—be read as a reference to the copyright under that Act in records embodying the recording; and
    (b) in the application of those subsections in relation to a cinematograph film—be read as a reference to any copyright under that Act in the film (insofar as it constituted a dramatic work for the purposes of that Act) or in photographs forming part of the film.
Bequests
238.—(1) Section 196 shall not apply in relation to a bequest contained in the will of a testator who died before the commencement of this Act.
(2) Where—
    (a) an author has died before the commencement of this Act;
    (b) a person has acquired, under the will of the author, the ownership of a manuscript of a work by the author; and
    (c) the work—
       (i) has not been published;
       (ii) in the case of a dramatic or musical work—has not been performed in public; and
       (iii) in the case of a lecture—has not been delivered in public,
the ownership by that person of the manuscript shall be evidence that that person is the owner of the copyright in the work.
(3) In subsection (1), expressions that are defined by section 205 shall have the meanings respectively given to those expressions by that section and shall not have the meanings, if any, respectively given to those expressions by Part II.
Existing computer programs
239.—(1) The Copyright Act 1911 shall apply to a computer program made before the commencement of this Act as it applies in relation to a literary work and shall so apply whether or not copyright would subsist in that program apart from this Act.
(2) Where, by virtue of subsection (1), copyright subsists under the Copyright Act 1911 in a computer program that was made before the commencement of this Act, nothing done in relation to the work before the commencement of this Act shall be taken to constitute an offence under the Copyright Act (Cap. 187) which is repealed by this Act or an infringement of that copyright.
(3) For the purposes of this section, a computer program the making of which extends over a period shall be deemed not to have been made before the commencement of this Act unless the making of it was completed before the commencement of this Act.
Division 5—Works made before 1st July 1912
Interpretation
240. In this Division, “right conferred by the Copyright Act 1911”, in relation to a work, means a right that, by virtue of section 24 of the Copyright Act 1911, was conferred in place of a right that subsisted immediately before the commencement of that Act.
Application
241. This Division shall apply to works made before 1st July 1912.
Rights conferred by Copyright Act 1911
242. Notwithstanding anything in Division 2, section 27 shall not apply to a work to which this Division applies unless a right conferred by the Copyright Act 1911 subsisted in the work immediately before the commencement of this Act.
Performing rights
243.—(1) Where the right conferred by the Copyright Act 1911 in relation to a dramatic or musical work to which this Division applies did not include the sole right to perform the work in public, then, copyright, insofar as it subsists in the work by virtue of this Act, shall not include the performing rights in relation to the work.
(2) Where the right conferred by the Copyright Act 1911 in relation to a dramatic or musical work to which this Division applies consisted only of the sole right to perform the work in public, then, copyright, insofar as it subsists in the work by virtue of this Act, shall consist only of the performing rights in relation to the work.
(3) For the purposes of this section, the performing rights, in relation to a work, are—
    (a) the exclusive right to perform the work, or an adaptation of the work, in public;
    (b) the exclusive right to broadcast the work or an adaptation of the work; and
    (c) the exclusive right to cause the work, or an adaptation of the work, to be in a cable programme service.
​Contributions to periodicals
244. Where—
    (a) a work to which this Division applies (in this section referred to as “the relevant work”) consists of an essay, article or item forming part of, and first published in, a review, magazine or other periodical or work of a like nature; and
    (b) immediately before the commencement of this Act, a right of publishing the relevant work in a separate form subsisted by virtue of the note to the First Schedule to the Copyright Act 1911,
copyright subsisting in the relevant work by virtue of this Act shall be subject to that right of publishing the relevant work in a separate form.
Assignments and licences
245.—(1) Without prejudice to the generality of section 237(1), where—
    (a) the author of a work to which this Division applies had, before the commencement of the Copyright Act 1911, made an assignment or grant of a kind referred to in paragraph (a) of the proviso to section 24(1) of that Act (in this section referred to as “the proviso”); and
    (b) copyright subsists in the work by virtue of this Act,
subsections (2), (3) and (4) shall have effect.
(2) If, before the commencement of this Act, an event occurred or a notice was given, being an event or notice that, in accordance with paragraph (a) of the proviso, had any operation affecting the ownership of the right conferred by the Copyright Act 1911 in relation to the work or creating, transferring or terminating an interest, right or licence in respect of that right, that event or notice shall have the like operation in relation to the copyright in the work under this Act.
(3) Any right that, at a time after the commencement of this Act, would, by virtue of paragraph (a) of the proviso, have been exercisable in relation to the work or in relation to the right conferred by the Copyright Act 1911, if this Act had not been ​enacted, shall be exercisable in relation to the work or in relation to the copyright subsisting in the work under this Act, as the case may be.
(4) If, in accordance with paragraph (a) of the proviso, the right conferred by the Copyright Act 1911 would have reverted to the author or his personal representatives on the date referred to in that paragraph, and that date occurs after the commencement of this Act, then on that date—
    (a) the copyright in the work under this Act shall revert to the author or his personal representatives, as the case may be; and
    (b) any interest of any other person in that copyright that subsists on that date by virtue of any document made before the commencement of the Copyright Act 1911 shall cease.
THE SCHEDULE
Section 74.
FALSE REGISTRATION OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS
1. The provisions of this Schedule shall have effect where—
    (a) copyright subsists in an artistic work, and proceedings are brought under this Act relating to that work;
    (b) a corresponding design has been registered under the Registered Designs Act 1949 of the United Kingdom, or any Act amending or substituting for that Act, and the copyright in the design subsisting by virtue of that registration has not expired by effluxion of time before the commencement of those proceedings; and
    (c) it is proved or admitted in the proceedings that the person registered as the proprietor of the design was not the proprietor thereof for the purposes of that Act or such other Act and was so registered without the knowledge of the owner of the copyright in the artistic work.
2. For the purposes of those proceedings (but subject to paragraph 3) the registration shall be treated as never having been effected, and accordingly, in relation to that registration, section 74(1) of this Act shall not apply, and nothing in any written law relating to industrial designs shall be construed as affording any defence in those proceedings.
3. Notwithstanding anything in paragraph 2, if in the proceedings it is proved or admitted that any act to which the proceedings relate—
    (a) was done in pursuance of an assignment or licence made or granted by the person registered as proprietor of the design; and
    (b) was so done in good faith in reliance upon the registration, and without notice of any proceedings for the cancellation of the registration or for rectifying the entry in the register of designs relating thereto,
section 74(1) of this Act shall apply in relation to that act for the purposes of the first-mentioned proceedings.