Clause 47

In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires —“electronic copy”, in relation to any material, means a copy of the material in an electronic form, and includes the original version of the material in that form;“material” means any work or other subject-matter in which copyright subsists by virtue of this Act;“monetary relief” means damages, an account of profits or statutory damages;“network service provider” —

for the purposes of section 193B, means a person who provides services relating to, or provides connections for, the transmission or routing of data; and

for the purposes of this Part (other than section 193B), means a person who provides, or operates facilities for, online services or network access and includes a person referred to in paragraph (a),but does not include such person or class of persons as the Minister may prescribe;“primary network”, in relation to a network service provider, refers to a network controlled or operated by or for the network service provider;“routing” means directing or choosing the means or routes for the transmission of data.(2) This Part does not limit the operation of the other provisions of this Act in relation to determining whether copyright has been infringed.Transmission, routing and provision of connections193B.—

The court shall not grant any monetary relief or, except as provided for in section 193DB, make any order against a network service provider for any infringement of copyright in any material that occurs by reason of —

the transmission or routing by the network service provider of, or the provision of connections by the network service provider for, an electronic copy of the material through the network service provider’s primary network; or

any transient storage by the network service provider of an electronic copy of the material in the course of such transmission, routing or provision of connections,if the network service provider satisfies the conditions set out in subsection (2).(2) The conditions referred to in subsection (1) are that —

the transmission of the electronic copy of the material was initiated by or at the direction of a person other than the network service provider;

the transmission, routing, provision of connections or storage is carried out through an automatic technical process without any selection of the electronic copy of the material by the network service provider;

the network service provider does not select the recipients of the electronic copy of the material except as an automatic response to the request of another person; and

the network service provider does not make any substantive modification (other than any modification made as part of a technical process) to the content of the electronic copy of the material during the transmission of the electronic copy of the material through the primary network.System caching193C.—

The court shall not grant any monetary relief or, except as provided for in section 193DB, make any order against a network service provider for any infringement of copyright in any material that occurs by reason of the making by the network service provider of an electronic copy of the material (referred to in this section as the cached copy) on the network service provider’s primary network —

from another electronic copy of the material made available on a network (referred to in this section as the originating network);

through an automatic process;

in response to an action by a user of the primary network; and

in order to facilitate efficient access to the material by that user or other users,if the network service provider satisfies the conditions set out in subsection (2).(2) The conditions referred to in subsection (1) are that —

the network service provider does not make any substantive modification (other than any modification made as part of a technical process) to the content of the cached copy of the material during the transmission of the cached copy of the material to users of the primary network or another network;

if the network service provider is furnished in the prescribed manner with a notice in the prescribed form relating to the cached copy of the material —

purportedly made by the owner of the copyright in the material or under the owner’s authority; and

stating the prescribed matters,the network service provider expeditiously takes reasonable steps to remove or disable access to the cached copy of the material on the primary network; and

the network service provider satisfies such other conditions as the Minister may prescribe in relation to —

access to the cached copy of the material by users of the primary network or another network;

the refreshing, reloading or updating of the cached copy of the material; and

non-interference with technology used at the originating network to obtain information about the use of any material on the originating network, being technology that is consistent with industry standards in Singapore.Storage and information location193D.—

The court shall not grant any monetary relief or, except as provided for in section 193DB, make any order against a network service provider for any infringement of copyright in any material that occurs by reason of —

the storage, at the direction of a user of the network service provider’s primary network, of an electronic copy of the material on the primary network, if the network service provider satisfies the conditions referred to in subsection (2); or

the network service provider referring or linking a user of any network to an online location on a network (referred to in this section as the originating network), being a location at which an electronic copy of the material is made available, by the use of —

an information location tool such as a hyperlink or directory; or

an information location service such as a search engine,if the network service provider satisfies the conditions referred to in subsection (4).(2) The conditions referred to in subsection (1)(a) are that —

the network service provider does not receive any financial benefit directly attributable to the infringement of the copyright in the material that occurs in, or in the course of, making available the electronic copy of the material on the primary network, provided that the network service provider has the right and ability to control the infringing activity;

if the network service provider —

acquires actual knowledge that the copyright in the material has been infringed in, or in the course of, making available the electronic copy of the material on the primary network;

acquires knowledge of such facts or circumstances which would lead inevitably to the conclusion that the copyright in the material has been infringed in, or in the course of, making available the electronic copy of the material on the primary network; or

is furnished in the prescribed manner with a notice in the prescribed form relating to the electronic copy of the material on the primary network —

purportedly made by the owner of the copyright in the material or under the owner’s authority; and

stating the prescribed matters,the network service provider expeditiously takes reasonable steps to remove or disable access to the copy of the material on the primary network; and

the network service provider has designated a representative to receive any notice referred to in paragraph (b)(iii) and published the prescribed information on the designated representative in the prescribed manner.(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), where a network service provider is not an individual, the network service provider shall not be treated as having acquired any knowledge referred to in subsection (2)(b)(i) or (ii) —

unless that knowledge is acquired by the representative referred to in subsection (2)(c); and

where it is alleged that the representative has acquired that knowledge by reason only of any communication made to the representative, unless that communication is in the form of the notice referred to in subsection (2)(b)(iii).(4) The conditions referred to in subsection (1)(b) are that —

the network service provider does not receive any financial benefit directly attributable to the infringement of the copyright in the material that occurs in, or in the course of, making available the electronic copy of the material on the originating network, provided that the network service provider has the right and ability to control the infringing activity;

if the network service provider —

acquires actual knowledge that the copyright in the material has been infringed in, or in the course of, making available the electronic copy of the material on the originating network;

acquires knowledge of such facts or circumstances which would lead inevitably to the conclusion that the copyright in the material has been infringed in, or in the course of, making available the electronic copy of the material on the originating network; or

is furnished in the prescribed manner with a notice in the prescribed form relating to the electronic copy of the material on the originating network —

purportedly made by the owner of the copyright in the material or under the owner’s authority; and

stating the prescribed matters,the network service provider expeditiously takes reasonable steps to disable access to the electronic copy of the material on the originating network, and to remove or disable access to any electronic copy of the material (being a copy made from the electronic copy of the material on the originating network and of which the network service provider has actual knowledge) on the primary network; and

the network service provider has designated a representative to receive any notice referred to in paragraph (b)(iii) and published the prescribed information on the designated representative in the prescribed manner.(5) For the purposes of subsection (4), where a network service provider is not an individual, the network service provider shall not be treated as having acquired any knowledge referred to in subsection (4)(b) —

unless that knowledge is acquired by the representative referred to in subsection (4)(c); and

where it is alleged that the representative has acquired that knowledge by reason only of any communication made to the representative, unless that communication is in the form of the notice referred to in subsection (4)(b)(iii).(6) For the purposes of subsections (2)(a) and (4)(a) —

a financial benefit does not include a benefit that is received merely on account of the provision of any online service by the network service provider; and

a financial benefit is to be regarded as directly attributable to the infringing activity only if the network service provider knew or ought reasonably to have known at the time of the receipt of the benefit that an infringement of copyright was involved.Exemption of network service provider from liability for removal of copy, etc., from network193DA.—

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any law (written or otherwise), a network service provider shall not be subject to any liability under any rule of law in respect of any action taken in good faith in relation to —

the removal of an electronic copy of any material from his primary network; or

the disabling of access to an electronic copy of any material on his primary network or another network,if —

such removal or disabling was done in reliance on any notice referred to in section 193C(2)(b) or 193D(2)(b)(iii) or (4)(b)(iii) or any knowledge referred to in section 193D(2)(b)(i) or (ii) or (4)(b)(i) or (ii); and

in the case of any removal or disabling done in reliance on any notice referred to in section 193D(2)(b)(iii) or (4)(b)(iii) or any knowledge referred to in section 193D(2)(b)(i) or (ii) or (4)(b)(i) or (ii), the conditions referred to in subsection (2) are satisfied.(2) The conditions referred to in subsection (1)(ii) are that —

after such removal or disabling, the network service provider expeditiously takes reasonable steps to notify the person who made available the electronic copy of the material on the network of this; and

where the network service provider is furnished in the prescribed manner, within the prescribed time, with a notice in the prescribed form purportedly made by the person who made available the electronic copy of the material on the network, or under that person’s authority, stating the prescribed matters —

the network service provider expeditiously takes reasonable steps to restore the electronic copy of the material to the network, or to restore access to that electronic copy, as the case may be, if it is technically and practically feasible to do so; or

before the network service provider has completed the steps referred to in sub-paragraph (i), the owner of the copyright in the material commences proceedings to prevent the electronic copy of the material, or the access to it, from being restored, and the network service provider is informed of those proceedings.(3) Subsection (1) shall apply whether or not it is ultimately determined that any relevant act that was carried out constitutes an infringement of copyright in the material under this Act.(4) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any law (written or otherwise), a network service provider shall not be subject to any liability under any rule of law in respect of any action taken in good faith in relation to —

the restoration of an electronic copy of any material to his primary network; or

the restoration of access to an electronic copy of any material on any network,if such restoration was done in reliance on any notice referred to in subsection (2)(b).(5) A network service provider shall not be treated as having authorised the doing of any act which is an infringement of copyright under this Act by reason only that the network service provider —

has provided a facility which was used by another person to do that act;

has received any notice referred to in section 193C(2)(b) or 193D (2)(b)(iii) or (4)(b)(iii) in respect of that act; or

has acquired any knowledge referred to in section 193D(2)(b)(i) or (ii) or (4)(b)(i) or (ii) in respect of that act.Relief which court may grant193DB.—

The types of relief that the court may grant against a network service provider, if the court is satisfied that section 193B(1) applies to the network service provider, shall be limited to either or both of the following:

an order requiring the network service provider to take reasonable steps to disable access to an online location that is physically situated outside Singapore;

an order requiring the network service provider to terminate a specified account.(2) The types of relief that the court may grant against a network service provider, if the court is satisfied that section 193C(1) or 193D(1) applies to the network service provider, shall be limited to one or more of the following:

an order requiring the network service provider —

to remove an infringing electronic copy of the material from the network service provider’s primary network; or

to disable access to an infringing electronic copy of the material on the primary network or another network;

an order requiring the network service provider to terminate a specified account;

such other order or orders as may be necessary, if that order is, or those orders are, the least burdensome to the network service provider among comparatively effective non-monetary orders.(3) When making an order under subsection (1) or (2), the court shall have regard to —

the harm that has been or may foreseeably be caused to the plaintiff;

the burden that the making of the order will place on the network service provider;

the technical feasibility of complying with the order;

the effectiveness of the order;

any possible adverse effect on the business or operations of the network service provider;

whether some other comparatively effective order would be less burdensome; and

all other matters which it considers relevant.Evidence of compliance with conditions193DC. If, in an action relating to this Part, a network service provider adduces evidence, as prescribed, that suggests that he has complied with a condition —

referred to in section 193B(2), 193C(2) or 193D(2) or (4); or

prescribed in any regulations made under section 193DE,the court shall presume, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that the network service provider has complied with that condition.Maker of false notice guilty of offence and liable in damages193DD.—

A person who, in making a notice under section 193C(2)(b), 193D(2)(b)(iii) or (4)(b)(iii) or 193DA(2)(b), makes any statement which is false, which he knows is false or does not believe to be true, and which touches any point material to the object of the notice —

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years; and

shall also be liable in damages to any person who suffers any loss or damage as a result of the making of that notice for any such loss or damage that is reasonably foreseeable as likely to result from the making of that notice.(2) Subsection (1) shall apply whether or not the statement is made in Singapore, and if a person makes the statement outside Singapore, he may be dealt with under subsection (1)(a) as if the offence were committed in Singapore.Regulations193DE.—

The Minister may make regulations prescribing any thing required or authorised to be prescribed under this Part.(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the regulations may —

prescribe the procedure or requirements for the notices to be furnished under this Part, including the forms of and information to be contained in such notices, the manner of sending such notices, and the manner of verification of statements in such notices; and

prescribe other conditions which a network service provider must comply with in order to benefit from the provisions in this Part.”.