SINGAPORE: The Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS), a licensing body that protects the rights of music writers, has mounted an uncommon private prosecution against Slim Entertainment, a firm that owns a karaoke lounge called Catwalk.
Catwalk, located in the Textile Centre at Jalan Sultan, runs a nightclub and karaoke lounge, among its services.
COMPASS opened its case on Wednesday (Oct 22), showing that the KTV lounge had been playing music from its repertoire including works of Jay Chou and JJ Lin without the required licences in breach of the Copyright Act.
When Slim Entertainment failed to respond to numerous letters from COMPASS, two of its licensing executives booked a room at Catwalk and sang songs in order to record evidence.
After a short hearing where the defendant did not show up, the judge convicted Slim Entertainment of all 20 charges under the Copyright Act raised by the complainant COMPASS, which is a non-profit organisation.
The charges relate to 10 songs, with 10 of the charges relating to the musical or composition part of the works, and the other
In their opening statement, solicitors from Coleman Street Chambers said COMPASS is a non-profit collective management organisation in Singapore regulated by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore.
COMPASS collectively manages and licenses around 19.5 million musical works and their associated literary works in its repertoire on behalf of music creators, namely authors, composers and publishers, said the lawyers.
The court heard from two licensing executives from COMPASS who testified that they had sent multiple letters to Slim Entertainment that went unanswered.
A freelance service clerk also testified about how he served a notice to attend court as well as the charges on a Chinese man who said he was a manager for Slim Entertainment.
However, the witnesses testified that Slim Entertainment did not get back to COMPASS.
In their opening statement, COMPASS stated that after the summons was served, the director of Slim Entertainment went to COMPASS' office on Oct 2, 2024, to ask about copyright requirements and the licence fees, in order to settle the matter "amicably".
COMPASS answered the queries and followed up with an email asking the director to submit the application forms for the relevant licences, a copy of its public entertainment licence and other documents for the calculation of the outstanding licence fees.
"However, Slim Entertainment did not respond thereafter and has chosen not to respond to, or appear in, all stages of the legal proceedings," said the lawyers for COMPASS.
After a lack of response from Slim Entertainment, the two licensing executives, Ms Claire Lee and Mr Gerald Ng, went to Catwalk and booked a room in order to gather evidence, the court heard.
"We went down just like any other typical customer," said Mr Ng. "We got a room. Basically, a sort of a nightclub set-up, but it's a KTV joint ... so we got a room and started singing."
The complainant played video clips of the songs in court, including songs like "Jie Kou" or "Excuse" and "Ting Ma Ma De Hua" or "Listen to Mum" by Jay Chou.
Mr Ng said that the company did not respond to all the court mentions and this "dragged on for a long period", and that COMPASS had to commence a separate set of actions against Slim Entertainment's director.
"They deprive the music writers the royalties that are due to them," said Mr Ng. "And COMPASS is a licensing body protecting the rights of these music writers, and when an outlet like Slim Entertainment refuses to comply with their copyright obligations, then we are also forced to take measures to protect the interests of music writers."
The judge found that the prosecution had established all 20 charges against Slim Entertainment beyond a reasonable doubt and convicted the company of the charges.
Sentencing was adjourned to December.
For each count of infringing copyright by causing a copyrighted work to be performed in public for private profit, the company can be fined up to S$40,000.
Had a person been convicted of such an offence, they could have been jailed for up to two years, fined up to S$20,000, or both.
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Catwalk, located in the Textile Centre at Jalan Sultan, runs a nightclub and karaoke lounge, among its services.
COMPASS opened its case on Wednesday (Oct 22), showing that the KTV lounge had been playing music from its repertoire including works of Jay Chou and JJ Lin without the required licences in breach of the Copyright Act.
When Slim Entertainment failed to respond to numerous letters from COMPASS, two of its licensing executives booked a room at Catwalk and sang songs in order to record evidence.
After a short hearing where the defendant did not show up, the judge convicted Slim Entertainment of all 20 charges under the Copyright Act raised by the complainant COMPASS, which is a non-profit organisation.
The charges relate to 10 songs, with 10 of the charges relating to the musical or composition part of the works, and the other
In their opening statement, solicitors from Coleman Street Chambers said COMPASS is a non-profit collective management organisation in Singapore regulated by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore.
COMPASS collectively manages and licenses around 19.5 million musical works and their associated literary works in its repertoire on behalf of music creators, namely authors, composers and publishers, said the lawyers.
The court heard from two licensing executives from COMPASS who testified that they had sent multiple letters to Slim Entertainment that went unanswered.
A freelance service clerk also testified about how he served a notice to attend court as well as the charges on a Chinese man who said he was a manager for Slim Entertainment.
However, the witnesses testified that Slim Entertainment did not get back to COMPASS.
In their opening statement, COMPASS stated that after the summons was served, the director of Slim Entertainment went to COMPASS' office on Oct 2, 2024, to ask about copyright requirements and the licence fees, in order to settle the matter "amicably".
COMPASS answered the queries and followed up with an email asking the director to submit the application forms for the relevant licences, a copy of its public entertainment licence and other documents for the calculation of the outstanding licence fees.
"However, Slim Entertainment did not respond thereafter and has chosen not to respond to, or appear in, all stages of the legal proceedings," said the lawyers for COMPASS.
After a lack of response from Slim Entertainment, the two licensing executives, Ms Claire Lee and Mr Gerald Ng, went to Catwalk and booked a room in order to gather evidence, the court heard.
"We went down just like any other typical customer," said Mr Ng. "We got a room. Basically, a sort of a nightclub set-up, but it's a KTV joint ... so we got a room and started singing."
The complainant played video clips of the songs in court, including songs like "Jie Kou" or "Excuse" and "Ting Ma Ma De Hua" or "Listen to Mum" by Jay Chou.
Mr Ng said that the company did not respond to all the court mentions and this "dragged on for a long period", and that COMPASS had to commence a separate set of actions against Slim Entertainment's director.
"They deprive the music writers the royalties that are due to them," said Mr Ng. "And COMPASS is a licensing body protecting the rights of these music writers, and when an outlet like Slim Entertainment refuses to comply with their copyright obligations, then we are also forced to take measures to protect the interests of music writers."
The judge found that the prosecution had established all 20 charges against Slim Entertainment beyond a reasonable doubt and convicted the company of the charges.
Sentencing was adjourned to December.
For each count of infringing copyright by causing a copyrighted work to be performed in public for private profit, the company can be fined up to S$40,000.
Had a person been convicted of such an offence, they could have been jailed for up to two years, fined up to S$20,000, or both.
Continue reading...