Quoted in the Media

‘Sharing someone else’s dance video online in S’pore? You’ll soon need to credit the performer’, The Straits Times (online), 6 July 2021: Professor David Tan from the National University of Singapore’s Faculty of Law said the moral right to properly acknowledge the creators of works is an important one that has been recognised in many countries, including France, Italy and Australia. “I am glad to see Singapore joining this good company, framing it as the right to be identified and the right not to be falsely identified, applicable to living creators,” he added.  

Prof Tan said that when social media users, such as influencers who make money from their accounts, repost content such as videos and images, they could be infringing the copyrights for the content unless they can prove that they used the videos and images fairly. But if they do not identify the creators of the content, they could be flouting the requirement to identify the creators, with no general fair use defence they can rely on. “I find this… discomfiting. It seems to be an overly onerous requirement that is skewed too much in favour of creators who may not suffer significant economic harm from a lack of identification,” said Prof Tan. The creator-crediting requirement could also cause some people to be afraid of the potential legal implications of not attributing, such as being sued, he added. This could mean “members of the public end up sharing fewer images and videos on social media, thus chilling social communication”, said Prof Tan. 

Read full story from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/sharing-someone-elses-dance-video-online-in-spore-youll-soon-need-to-credit-the.