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Bill No. 44/1968

Read the first time on 3rd December 1968.

An Act to provide penalties for the infringement of copyright in gramophone records and to exempt Government broadcasting from infringement of copyright in musical works and in gramophone records.

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows: —

Short title and commencement

1. This Act may be cited as the Copyright (Gramophone Records and Government Broadcasting) Act, 1968, and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Interpretation

2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

“gramophone record” means the material first embodying the recording of a sequence of sounds capable, by the use of that material, of being automatically reproduced aurally, but does not include a sound track associated with a cinematograph film;

“musical work” means a musical work in which there is a subsisting copyright;

“pirated copies”, in relation to any gramophone record, means any copies of such record made or reproduced without the consent lawfully given by the owner of the copyright in such record.

Penalty for being in possession of pirated copies of gramophone records

3.—(1) Every person who makes, reproduces, imports for sale, sells, exposes or offers for sale, or has in his possession for sale, any pirated copies of any gramophone record, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, and in the case of a second or subsequent conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars or to both such imprisonment and fine.

(2) Where a person is charged with an offence under subsection (1) of this section, it shall be a defence to prove that —

(a)	he had at the time of the commission of the alleged offence no reason to suspect that he was dealing with pirated copies;
(b)	on demand by or on behalf of the prosecutor, he gave all the information in his power with respect to the persons from whom he had obtained the pirated copies; and
(c)	in all respects he acted innocently.

(3) The court before which any proceedings are taken under subsection (1) of this section may, whether the alleged offender is convicted or not, order that any pirated copies of any gramophone record shall be delivered up to the owner of the copyright in such record or otherwise dealt with as the court thinks fit.

(4) A police officer may arrest without warrant any person who, in any street or public place, sells, exposes or offers for sale, or has in his possession for sale, any pirated copies of any gramophone record as may be specified in any general written authority addressed to the Registrar of Imports and Exports and signed by the apparent owner of the copyright in such record or his agent, requesting the arrest, at the risk of such owner, of all persons found committing offences under this Act in respect to such record.

(5) A copy of every written authority under subsection (4) of this section shall be open to inspection at all reasonable hours by any person without payment of any fee and any person may take copies or make extracts thereof.

(6) Any person who has in his possession five or more pirated copies of any gramophone record shall be deemed to be in possession of such copies for sale.

Right of entry by police

4.—(1) If a Magistrate is satisfied by information on oath that there is reasonable ground for suspecting that an offence under this Act is being committed in any premises, he may grant a search warrant authorising any police officer named therein to enter the premises, and if necessary, to use force for making such entry, and to seize any copies of any gramophone record which appear to such officer to be pirated copies.

(2) All copies of any gramophone record seized under this section shall be brought before a court, and if proved to be pirated copies, shall be delivered up to the owner of the copyright in such record or otherwise dealt with as the court thinks fit.

Proof of copyright

5.—(1) An affidavit made before a notary public by or on behalf of the owner of the copyright in any gramophone record and stating —

(a)	that at the time specified therein, copyright subsisted in such record;
(b)	that he or the person named therein is the owner of the copyright; and
(c)	that a copy of the record annexed thereto is a true copy thereof,

shall be admitted in evidence in any proceedings under this Act on its production by the prosecution without further proof.

(2) An affidavit made under subsection (1) of this section shall be prima facie evidence of the matters stated therein and, until the contrary is proved, the court before which such affidavit is produced shall presume that the affidavit was made by or on behalf of the owner of the copyright in such record.

When copyright in musical works not infringed by Government

6.—(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other written law —

(a)	the copyright in a musical work or in a gramophone record is not infringed by the Government when it causes the musical work or gramophone record to be heard in public by means of a radio or television broadcast; and
(b)	the copyright in a musical work is not infringed by the Government when it makes a record, tape or other device in respect of that musical work solely for the purpose of broadcasting that musical work by means of a radio or television broadcast.

(2) Where a radio or television broadcast is made by the Government and a person by the reception of that broadcast causes a musical work or gramophone record to be heard in public, he does not thereby infringe the copyright in that musical work or gramophone record.