Abstract:
Musical copyright has been the subject of collective rights management in Singapore for decades, conducted by what are known as collective management organisations (“CMOs”). Whereas CMOs serve the public interest by facilitating protection of copyright, they unfortunately exist in a legal void, let to self-regulate. This has resulted in opaque systems and damage to the legitimacy of copyright protection. This article provides timely insight into the flaws of the self-regulated regime of CMOs and proposes regulatory measures in response to these issues, just as the reforms following Singapore’s latest copyright review are eagerly anticipated.