Ms Sylvia Lim: Chairman, in Singapore, pursuing a creative career can be difficult due to the challenge of earning a stable living. However, it is vital that Singaporean artists, writers, filmmakers and other creatives can lead meaningful livelihoods and help support the growth of Singapore’s artistic and cultural landscape.
To that end, I have come across many creatives, such as film producers and photographers, who do not fully understand their rights, especially when it comes to the intellectual property (IP). Many are unaware that under the Copyright Act 2021, the IP rights in their creations automatically belong to them even if they were paid for that work. This is a crucial gap in knowledge that must be addressed. This becomes more urgent and important with the rise of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI), which has led to the unauthorised use of copyrighted materials for profit-driven purposes.
The recent open statement from Singapore’s literary community to the National Library Board, signed by at least 88 local creatives, reflects growing concern over the lack of regard for copyrighted works and its potential impact on the vitality and viability of pursuing an artistic career.
Besides promoting education and awareness, the Government can also consider introducing regulations on AI models to better level the playing field between AI developers and creatives. Some jurisdictions have started on this. For example, the European Union’s (EU’s) AI Act compels Gen AI models to demonstrate compliance with the EU’s copyright law and provide a sufficiently detailed summary of the content used for training their models. Such obligations empower copyright-holders to exercise their rights by opting out of having their works used in text and data mining.
In this regard, it would be good to understand whether there are ground outreach efforts to creatives to promote understanding of their IP rights. In addition, how are MinLaw and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) tackling the copyright challenges posed by AI.
The Second Minister for Law (Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai): To Ms Sylvia Lim’s query, for smaller enterprises and freelancers in the creative sectors, IPOS has simple info-packs as well as easy-to-understand videos that explain copyright and share best practices on using and protecting IP. In fact, Ms Lim, I remember that when I introduced the Bill that you spoke about, we had introduced as well the learner aids as well as these videos.
In addition, IPOS also works with agencies like the National Arts Council (NAC) and the National Library Board (NLB), as well as industry partners, like Copyright Licensing and Administration Society of Singapore (CLASS) and the Visual, Audio, Creative Content Professionals Association (VICPA), to provide additional support.
Just last year, in August 2024, IPOS signed a three-year MOU with VICPA, to support the creative industry in IP education and management, and capacity building. IPOS is also working on a video podcast with NAC and NLB to engage creatives in the music industry. This will be launched during World IP Day on 26 April later this year.
IPOS also actively supports partner events, such as the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO) World Congress to discuss copyright-related issues and developments. This will happen in October this year.
In other words, going down to the basic industry, at that level, as well as elevating ourselves to world global thought leadership in these areas are all part of the efforts to enhance awareness and education in this space. And we will, indeed, look out for more opportunities to reach our creators to raise their awareness in this very quickly evolving environment.
For enterprises looking to commercialise their IA and IP, IPOS is working with local and international partners to develop IA valuation guidelines that are interoperable internationally. We will seek public feedback on the draft IA valuation guidelines in the first half of 2025. Minister of State Murali Pillai will speak about the development of technology and its impact on IP rights.
The Minister of State for Law (Mr Murali Pillai): Ms Sylvia Lim and Ms Jean See asked about the balance in the context of AI. While the IP regime enables the use of copyright materials for digital innovation, we have built in conditions to protect legitimate interests of rights-holders. In particular, if copyright materials are used to train AI models, the materials must be lawfully accessed. For example, for materials behind pay walls, through paid access. Furthermore, rights-holders can use the copyright protection regime to take action against the generation or use of content substantially similar to their own.
We recognise technologies, such as Gen AI, significantly impact many stakeholders. The Government remains committed to working with the creative community to address their concerns. There is ongoing engagement with stakeholders, including those in the creative sector, such as writers, publishers, record labels and creative agencies.
Some of the suggestions received include greater transparency in how copyright material is used for AI training and for rights-holders to have more control over use of their material. We are studying these suggestions. For example, we are exploring with MDDI and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), support for transparency measures and respect for copyright in our AI governance policies and tools, such as IMDA’s upcoming safety guidelines for Gen AI model developers and app deployers.
MinLaw and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) will continue to work with stakeholders to maintain the right balance that will support creativity and innovation.
We also focus on the impact of technology in the legal sector. Legal professionals should use Gen AI tools safely and responsibly, even as we encourage its adoption.
The need for guardrails is clear because: one, Gen AI may give inaccurate responses or hallucinate; two, security and privacy concerns – some Gen AI models may store user information and search history to train the model and this may then be reproduced for responses to other users; and three, ethical concerns with the rapid development of Gen AI by different programmers, it is critical that Gen AI tools are developed within a framework guided by principles, ethics and rules.
Considering this context, MinLaw is working on guidelines to guide legal professionals to be smart buyers and users of Gen AI tools. We have consulted stakeholders, such as the Singapore Courts, Law Society and IMDA, and will consult the industry in due course.
Ministry of Law
4 March 2025
https://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/#/sprs3topic?reportid=budget-2593
Office of the Leader of the Opposition 