FAQ

You do not have to register Copyright. It automatically subsists as soon as an original work is created, in writing or put into any material form, eg. musical scores, cassette, CD etc.

As no formal registration of Copyright is required, in the event of a dispute over authorship, ownership or originality, there is no standard way of proving that one work was in existence before another.

Registration of works with COMPASS is one of the ways that may help to substantiate existence of work at a given date. Another possible way is to send a recording or copy of the work to yourself by registered post, and leave it unopened. These methods however do not prove that you created the song; rather, it only helps establish the date you claim the song came into existence.

COMPASS represents our local members as well as members of our affiliated overseas societies under CISAC. A list of our affiliated overseas societies can be found in the link below:

Click here to view the list International Affiliations

If you are using someone’s property, there is a moral and legal obligation to first obtain the owner’s permission. The same principle applies to musical works because these are a form of intellectual property.

Under Copyright Law, you have to first obtain permission from the copyright owner or their representative before performing their musical works in public. Otherwise, you may end up being liable for civil damages and criminal penalties.

The phrase “Public Performances” usually brings to mind big concerts. But actually under Copyright Law, Public Performances refer to any use of musical works for non-personal, non-domestic and/or commercial purposes.

Examples include Live and Mechanical Music being played in concerts, restaurants, retail outlets, nightclubs, bars, pubs, discotheques, karaoke lounges, roadshows, or any indoor or outdoor events including private company functions and closed-door events.

All Music Copyrights administered by COMPASS are fully backed by law. We maintain the Deeds of Assignment indicating the transfer of Copyrights from our members (Composers, Authors and Music Publishers) to COMPASS. We also have Reciprocal Representation Agreements with international Affiliated Societies, granting the exclusive right to license their repertoire in Singapore to COMPASS. You may submit a written request to view the necessary and relevant documents at our office at a mutually convenient time. These documents have also been presented in the Copyright Tribunal and the Courts on numerous occasions in civil and criminal suits against those who infringe Copyrights. In fact, many government departments, which are extremely cautious in monetary matters, are also paying royalties to COMPASS.

COMPASS is also proud to be a licensed Collective Management Organisation under the Class Licensing Scheme (CLS) by the Ministry of Law and our Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS). More information is available at the IPOS website https://www.ipos.gov.sg/about-ip/copyright/copyright-owners/collective-management-organisations.

In line with the CLS, we publish a list of our affiliated societies and COMPASS’s members on our website at https://www.compass.org.sg/about-us/ . In addition, we offer a blanket licence along with an indemnity against copyright infringement actions and proceedings attributable to the licensee’s use of COMPASS’s repertoire under the terms of the licence agreement.

COMPASS is a non-profit organization established to collect royalties on behalf of the Members of itself and its international Affiliated Societies. Licence fees collected are distributed to Composers, Authors and Music Publishers represented by COMPASS and its international Affiliated Societies after the deduction of administration charges. You may refer to the Distribution Rules on our website.

COMPASS is a public company formed under the Companies Act. As such, any member of the public can obtain a copy of the audited annual accounts, which will clearly show that royalties collected, less administration costs, are all distributed out to Members and affiliate Societies. COMPASS also pays very little company tax as it does not make any profit from its licensing operations. The administration costs, which generally vary between 15% – 18%, are to sustain the administration and enforcement operations of the Society. Our audited financial statements are found in our Annual Reports which are publicly available on our website.