Asia IP

MediaCorp, Singapore’s foremost terrestrial broadcaster of free-to-air television programming, is in the midst of a lawsuit against RecordTV, a company operating an internet website offering online recording of MediaCorp’s free-to-air television programmes, say lawyers at Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow, writing in the firm’s Intellectual Property Client Update newsletter.

The firm writes that MediaCorp has alleged copyright infringement on the part of RecordTV in relation to RecordTV’s unauthorized reproduction and unauthorized communication of both its television broadcasts, as well as the MediaCorp produced films comprised in the broadcasts.

RecordTV, however, sought to rely on the fair dealing defence under Section 109 of the Copyright Act (Cap 63) as well as the defence under the Section 114 of the Copyright Act (Cap 63) which allows a person to record television broadcasts for their private and domestic use, the firm writes. RecordTV argues that the recording service on its website essentially works like a digital video recorder which members of the public already use to record television programmes for their subsequent viewing, with the only difference being that the recordings are stored remotely. Consequently, RecordTV argues that any reproduction of the television programmes would be made by its users using its services and that these users would be protected under Section 114 of the Copyright Act. Further, as only registered users of RecordTV’s website could access the recorded material, RecordTV argued that there was no communication of MediaCorp’s content to the public.

The case was heard in late June and early July. While no decision has yet been rendered, Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow lawyers note that as new technologies develop, the boundaries of traditional Copyright Law will continue to be tested.

“Whatever the outcome of the RecordTV case, it will provide valuable guidance in relation to the interaction of Copyright Law and the new technologies that are continually being developed to distribute copyrighted content over new platforms,” they said.