Section 186

If it appears to the Minister that the law of a country does not give adequate protection to Singapore works, or does not give adequate protection in relation to a class or classes of such works (whether the lack of protection relates to the nature of the work or the nationality, citizenship or country of residence of its author, or all of those matters), the Minister may by regulations make provision in relation to that country in accordance with subsection (2).

Regulations made for the purposes of this section may provide, either generally or in such classes of cases as are specified in the regulations, that copyright under this Act does not subsist in works first published after a date specified in those regulations (which may be a date before the commencement of those regulations or before 10th April 1987) if, at the time of the first publication of those works, the authors of the works were or are —

In making regulations for the purposes of this section, the Minister shall have regard to the nature and extent of the lack of protection for Singapore works by reason of which the regulations are made.

In this section —[Aust. 1968, s. 185]

“author”, in relation to a sound recording or a cinematograph film, means the maker of the recording or film;

“Singapore work” means a work the author of which was, at the time when the work was made, a qualified person for the purpose of the relevant provision of this Act;

“the relevant provision of this Act” means —

“work” means a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, a sound recording, a cinematograph film, a television broadcast, a sound broadcast or a cable programme.