Can Intellectual Property (IP) ethics be taught? How precarious is the position of home-users now? Do the authorities have the right to monitor what I do in my personal space? How many pieces of music and videos can I download before I cross the threshold of liability?

These topics of discussion were bounced about in the 20th Annual Singapore Law Review Lecture: A Panel Discussion on “Music, Video & Movie File Sharing: Trends & Implications”. The spotlight was thrown on the development of IP law in Singapore, with a particular focus on the how IP laws impact the conduct of netizens in cyberspace. It was a timely forum aimed at discussing a dynamic area of law which is set to have a wide-reaching effect on the IT community.

Graced by Attorney-General Chao Hick Tin and sponsored by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), the Lecture was attended by practising lawyers, NUS students, Junior College students as well as other members of the legal fraternity. The 20th Lecture took on a slightly different tone this year with an interactive panel discussion chaired by guest speakers Mr Steven Ang (Associate Professor at Nanyang Technological University), Mr Bryan Tan (Director of Keystone Law Corporation) and Ms Elaine Leong (Senior Assistant Director and Legal Counsel at the Copyright Department in IPOS). Ms Chiam Lu Lin, Assistant Director-General, Legal Counsel and Deputy Registrar of the Registries Division of IPOS kicked off the Lecture with an entertaining and informative speech on the importance of protecting IP rights and IPOS’ role in IP policy-making & regulation.

Coming from different angles of the IP field with often diverging viewpoints regarding the governance of IP law, the panelists offered the audience a variety of views that added much colour to the discussion. Interesting questions which sprang from the audience reflected the curiosity of people in IP law as well as the potential heralded by this particular field of law. Exactly how much copying is too much? Is there a disconnection between the law and the wants of the people? Can importance of the protection of IP rights ever penetrate the public consciousness? There were no perfectly certain answers and neither was there a need for such in the energy-charged healthy exchange of ideas that triggered much thought even after the end of the session. Regardless of the various controversies surrounding the topic, everyone walked away with a firm notion of the bottom-line: Be held back not only by the consequences, but more importantly the appreciation for the owner of the intellectual property you are manipulating.

The evening of conviviality and vivacious forum indeed provided a chance for people from all walks of life to converge and discuss a legal development that beholds much anticipation.

Inaugurated in 1984 with generations of track record, the SLR Lecture has yet closed another chapter of its illustrious history. See you at the 21st Annual SLR Lecture, 2008!

Tan An Qi is a first year law undergraduate and the Deputy Juris editor. – Juris Illuminae Vol. 3 Issue. 5 (March/April 2007)