The Legal Janitor

Found this interesting comparison about the difference in penalties between infringing copyright of a movie, and stealing the DVD of the movie in the USA.

Summary

from Off The Shelf — Penalties of Stealing vs. Infringing via Slashdot

How does our Singapoream jurisdiction compare with good ol America?

I dug around Singapore Statutes Online and the closest I could find is s379 of the Penal Code:

Punishment for theft.
379. Whoever commits theft shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 3 years, or with fine, or with both.

The Copyright Act, in contrast, has a WHOLE LOT of lovin’ for copyright owners. Not only do they have provisions for remedies:

Actions for infringement
119. ?(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the owner of a copyright may bring an action for an infringement of the copyright.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, in an action for an infringement of copyright, the types of relief that the court may grant include the following:

(a) an injunction (subject to such terms, if any, as the court thinks fit);

(b) damages;

(c) an account of profits;

(d) where the plaintiff has elected for an award of statutory damages in lieu of damages or an account of profits, statutory damages of ?

(i) not more than $10,000 for each work or subject- matter in respect of which the copyright has been infringed; but

(ii) not more than $200,000 in the aggregate, unless the plaintiff proves that his actual loss from such infringement exceeds $200,000.

(2A) When the court awards any damages under subsection (2) (b), the court may also make an order under subsection (2) (c) for an account of any profits attributable to the infringement that have not been taken into account in computing the damages.

Then there also criminal penalties to an act of infringement in s136 of the Copyright Act, of which ss 3(A) is relevant for downloading:

(3A) Where, at any time when copyright subsists in a work ??

(a) a person does any act that constitutes an infringement of the copyright in a work other than an act referred to in subsection (1), (2), (3) or (6);

(b) the infringement of the copyright in the work by the person is wilful; and

(c) either or both of the following apply:

(i) the extent of the infringement is significant;

(ii) the person does the act to obtain a commercial advantage,

the person shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both and, in the case of a second or subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both.

Which basically means to say, they’ll sued the shit out of you, making you pay up to SGD$200,000 (and more if they ‘prove‘ that they have an ‘actual loss‘ higher than that amount).

And once you’re broken and bloodied bankrupt, the police move in and if you’re a first-timer, you get 6 months jail-time and/or $20,000. If you’re a repeat offender, you get 3 years in the clinker and/or $50,000.

In a strange, perverse and twisted way, while Singapore is harsher than the USA in punishing copyright infringement, it is also ‘fairer‘ with respect to the penalties between actual stealing and copyright infringement (3yrs jail maximum for each). Truly in Singapore, is copying == stealing.

Any lawyers, or anyone with expertise in Singapore’s Copyright Act and Penal Code, let me know if I’ve missed out on anything.