MinLaw, Ipos seek public feedback on regulating collective management organisations
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THE Ministry of Law (MinLaw) and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (Ipos) are seeking public feedback on draft subsidiary legislation for the regulation of collective management organisations (CMOs).
CMOs administer licences and collect royalties for the use of copyrighted works and performances on behalf of creators, while providing users with efficient access to said works.
A mandatory class licensing scheme for CMOs was introduced with the new Copyright Act. Under this scheme, which will be regulated by Ipos, all CMOs will be automatically licensed and must comply with all applicable licence conditions.
MinLaw and Ipos had earlier conducted public consultations in 2017 and 2020 on the licensing scheme. The two agencies said that the current round of public consultation “is part of an ongoing review of Singapore’s copyright regime”, and that the draft regulations have taken into account the feedback from the previous rounds.
The draft regulations cover the licence conditions that CMOs must comply with, and the procedures relating to regulatory actions by Ipos.
Five licence conditions have been set out in the draft regulations.
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First, CMOs will be required to give creators, known as members, key rights in their membership agreements. CMOs will also be required to enact a membership policy that lays out a minimum standard for their relationship management with members.
Second, CMOs will need to establish and comply with a distribution policy, to ensure that the collection and distribution of monies are in accordance with minimum standards of transparency and accountability.
Third, CMOs will need to have a dispute resolution policy for dealing with disputes between the CMO and its users, intending users, or members.
Fourth, CMOs must have safeguards to ensure that they operate transparently and with accountability. These safeguards include those regarding board appointments and removals, as well as baseline financial record-keeping and reporting obligations.
Lastly, CMOs will be required to make public any key information on their operations and portfolios.
The draft regulations also set out representation, recourse and appeal procedures that CMOs and their officers can follow in response to regulatory action by Ipos.
On Monday (Nov 7), MinLaw and Ipos said that the licensing scheme will come into effect six months after the regulations are gazetted. CMOs can take this six-month transition period to ensure compliance to the scheme.
The public consultation will close on Dec 4.
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