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 their 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 (AI), which has led to the unauthorised use of copyrighted material for profit-driven purposes. The recent open statement from Singapore’s literary community to the National Library Board (NLB), 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 AI Act compels generative 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 is the Ministry of Law and IPOS tackling the copyright challenges posed by AI?
