The Fine Arts in a Fine City: Moral Rights in Singapore

This article critically examines possible reasons for the absence of key moral rights within Singapore's copyright regime, such as Singapore's Confucian style of governance and its censorship and cultural policies. As a country's copyright regime reflects its cultural policies, it is posited that the absence of moral rights, which are non-economic in nature, may be attributed to policies which are heavily economic in outlook, favouring the more commercial creative industries over the fine arts. It is argued that the absence of moral rights does not concord with Singapore's ambitions to be a global cultural capital. The subtext to this is that by failing to recognise strong moral rights, Singapore risks disenchanting its artists and diminishing its artistic heritage.