Notification for Guidance in relation to the Digital Memorandum of Understanding between Music Publishers (S) Ltd, the Composer and Authors Society of Singapore Ltd and 12 music publishers

Case Title

Notification for Guidance in relation to the Digital Memorandum of Understanding  between Music Publishers (S) Ltd, the Composer and Authors Society of Singapore Ltd and 12 music publishers

Notifying Date:

30 August 2012

Notifying Parties:

The parties to the agreement are:

(a) Music Publishers (S) Ltd (“MPS”)

(b) EMI Music Publishing Group Singapore Pte Ltd

(c) Forward Music Publisher Pte Ltd

(d) HIM International Music Pte Ltd

(e) Life Music Publishing Pte Ltd

(f) Music & Melody Pte Limited

(g) Peermusic Pacific Pte Ltd

(h) Rock Music Publishing (S) Pte Ltd

(i) Sony Music Publishing (Pte) Ltd

(j) Touch Music Publishing Pte Ltd

(k) Universal Music Publishing Pte Ltd

(l) Universal Music Publishing MGB Singapore Pte Ltd

(m) Warner/Chappell Music Singapore Pte Ltd

(n) Composers and Authors Society of Singapore Ltd (“COMPASS”)

Summary of the nature and objective of the agreement

(a)    The Digital Memorandum of Understanding (the “Digital MOU”) is an agreement among a group of copyright licensors to pool and offer their rights in their musical works via a single, joint licence in order to facilitate the distribution of these musical works over the internet.

(b)   MPS represents an association of music publishers who licence out the mechanical rights in a substantial body of musical works. The mechanical rights are necessary in order to offer for download copies of the musical work.

(c)    COMPASS licences out the public performance rights in a substantial body of musical works, and the mechanical rights in a small number of musical works. The public performance rights are necessary to stream the musical work online.

(d)   The music publishers and COMPASS currently license out their rights separately. Therefore, a digital licensee who wishes to distribute music online will need to obtain a licence for the mechanical rights from the music publishers via MPS, and a licence for the public performance rights from COMPASS.

(e)   The main benefit of the Digital MOU is that these digital licensees who wish to distribute the musical works will only need to obtain a single joint licence which will be administered by MPS. This will reduce administrative costs, and allow digital licensees easy access to a large number of musical works.

(f)     The joint licence will coexist with the licenses currently being offered by the music publishers and COMPASS separately.

Description of the relevant Goods/Services:

(a)    The parties are involved in music publishing, including the licensing of the copyright in musical works.

(b)   Under copyright law, a digital licensee who wishes to distribute musical works online in Singapore requires a licence from the owner of the mechanical rights in the musical works, and from the owner of the public performance rights in the musical works.

(c)    The music publishers licence out the mechanical rights in a substantial body of musical works, and these licenses are administered by MPS.

(d)   COMPASS licenses out the public performance rights in a substantial body of musical works, and the mechanical rights in a small number of musical works.

(e)   The joint licence created under the Digital MOU will be a licence for the mechanical rights in the musical works owned by the music publishers, and for the public performance and mechanical rights owned by COMPASS.

(f)     More information on the Digital MOU can be found in Form 1 that was submitted by MPS.

Invitation for comments

Interested parties are invited to submit their views on the Application and the Digital MOU. If the submission/correspondence contains confidential information, interested parties should provide CCS with a non-confidential version of the submission or correspondence. 

Comments should reach the CCS no later than 29 November 2012. Please send your comments (titled: Comments on Singapore Digital MOU between MPS, COMPASS and 12 music publishers) : 

By Post/Courier to: 
Competition Commission of Singapore 
45 Maxwell Road 
#09-01 The URA Centre 
Singapore 069118 

Attention: Mr Harikumar Sukumar Pillay, Deputy Director (Enforcement)

By Email to:
ccs_feedback@ccs.gov.sg