The speed at which hyperlinks enable information to be disseminated poses challenges to legal regulation. In particular, major concerns arise over whether adherence to the Traditional Publication Rule would result in widespread liability. This paper explores how various jurisdictions have opted to tackle the issue of defamation via hyperlinks and highlights a shift towards a publisher-centric inquiry. This paper concludes by arguing that this shift is fundamentally at odds with the principles underlying the element of publication, and provides suggestions for how Singapore can consider approaching this issue moving forward.

The article discusses the major tests that have been applied since Donoghue v. Stevenson to determine the existence of a duty of care in the tort of negligence. It is critical of the more recent tests that are based upon the “proximity” element. The article argues for a resuscitation of the Wilberforce two-stage test of the foreseeability basis that is qualified by public policies as the best available test that has been evolved so far. This test must, however, be applied, in the future, with greater circumspection and with greater regard for prior decisions that restricted or excluded recovery than before.

On 14 November 2022, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”), Mr Daren Tang, delivered the keynote address at the Asian Pacific Copyright Association (“APCA”) Conference held at the Bukit Timah Campus of NUS Law. The conference was held in hybrid mode, attracting participants from over a dozen countries that spanned Austria to Australia. Co-hosted by the EW Barker Centre for Law & Business and the Centre for Technology, Robotics, AI & the Law (“TRAIL”), the theme of the conference was “Copyright in the Age of Disruption”. Over two dozen papers and presentations discussed how copyright law should address myriad disruptive phenomena such as the evolving use of artificial intelligence, the ascendancy of cultural appropriation concerns, the creation of the metaverse, new communication technologies, NFTs and fast fashion.