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Amended Copyright Act seeks to stop online piracy

SINGAPORE — Parliament today (July 8) passed a bill to amend the Copyright Act to put a stop to online piracy.

Senior Minister of State for Education and Law Indranee Rajah in Parliament. Photo: Channel NewsAsia

Senior Minister of State for Education and Law Indranee Rajah in Parliament. Photo: Channel NewsAsia

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SINGAPORE — Parliament today (July 8) passed a bill to amend the Copyright Act to put a stop to online piracy.

Senior Minister of State for Law Indranee Rajah said the amended Act will give copyright owners greater ability to protect their rights in the online space.

One key measure is to allow owners to obtain blocking orders against infringing websites. They can do this by applying directly to the court, without having to first establish liability on the part of the network service provider for copyright infringement.

Previously, copyright owners needed to send a request to network service providers to disable access or remove copyright infringing material. This was done by issuing a take-down notice to the network service provider. Since there is no rule making it mandatory to comply, service providers need not act on such notices.

Ms Indranee said that online piracy is a global issue that affects Singapore as well. “The prevalence of online privacy in Singapore turns customers away from legitimate content and adversely affects Singapore’s creative sector,” she said. “It can also undermine our reputation as a society that respects the protection of intellectual property.” CHANNEL NEWSASIA

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