Copyright Law for Singapore Educators

Copyright Law
The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) comes under the purview of Ministry of Law and set up by the Government of Singapore. IPOS advises on and administers intellectual property (IP) laws, promotes IP awareness and provides the infrastructure to facilitate the development of IP in Singapore.

Copyright is a private property right that protects original works such as novels, computer programmes, music and photos. 

Fair dealing
There are some “fair dealing” exceptions to copyright infringement under Singapore's copyright law. A certain amount of copying, for example, is permissible as long as it is a situation of “fair dealing” as determined by the Court. Factors the Court may consider in determining “fair dealing” include the purpose and character of the dealing or the nature of the work.

Exceptions in Educational Institutions

A summary of the special exceptions for educational field presented in Table 1 & Table 2:

  Table 1

   

Table 2

Advice for Government schools

Schools are strongly encouraged to seek advice from the legal department of Ministry of Education (MOE) if they encounter specific copyright issues. MOE itself may have entered into private licence agreements with copyright owners. The terms of any such agreements may allow Government schools a wider scope of use than that available under the exceptions in our copyright law.


Similarity and difference between Copyright in USA and Singapore

Based on the table above, the amount of, purpose and time-limit for copying may be similar in the two countries. However, the notation and record-keeping in the US may not be as strict as the one in Singapore. 


Information and Table 1 and Table 2 by IPOS -
 https://www.ipos.gov.sg/Portals/0/COPYRIGHT_Educators%20[Oct%202012].pdf