Speech by Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee at the Launch of a New Education Initiative by the HIP Alliance (A Project of the IPOS) at the Art House, Old Parliament Lane
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Mr Frank Rittman, Vice President (Asia Pacific), Motion Picture Association,
Ms Liew Woon Yin, Director-General, IPOS
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Good Morning.
- I am happy to join you this morning for the launch of the “Say NO! to Piracy” movie trailer campaign. This initiative by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) and its HIP Alliance partner, the Motion Pictures Association, is part of a year-long campaign to reach out to consumers to do the right thing and reject piracy.
- Singapore is seeking new impetus for growth in IP (Intellectual Property) rich activities, for example, in the more knowledge intensive and creative industries. In this regard, we are putting in place a robust IP regime that is benchmarked against the best in the world.
- Last Saturday, IPOS released the latest proposed amendments to the Copyright Act for public consultation. These make up a second set of substantial amendments to the Copyright regime, the first set having come into effect in July this year. Our goal is to further enhance our copyright legislation to make Singapore more conducive to IP creators. Putting the legal framework in place is just one piece of the puzzle. For growth to be sustainable, especially in the creative and copyright based industries, we need everyone in Singapore to embrace a culture that respects and rewards creative effort, in other words, a discerning public that rejects piracy activities.
- For this reason, IPOS is stepping up its efforts to reach out to the public through the HIP Alliance. In a moment, you will be introduced to the re-vitalised HIP logo. “HIP” now stands for “Honour Intellectual Property”. The new look and feel uses two symbolic icons of authenticity – the fingerprint and the eye, backed by very “hip” colours - green, orange and purple. With the new HIP branding, IPOS hopes to get more people excited about creativity, originality and IP and to “Say NO! to Piracy”.
- We have good reasons to do this. After all, the copyright-based industries are an important contributor to economic growth. We know that the definition of copyright-based industries varies across different countries. The World Intellectual Property Organisation, or WIPO, has put in a lot of effort to establish a standard measurement across countries. Singapore has been selected to be involved in a pioneer project, to conduct a national study using WIPO’s research methodology. According to preliminary findings released by IPOS and the IP Academy, the economic contribution of copyright-based industries in Singapore in 2001 contributed 5.6 percent to GDP - an estimated S$8.6 billion to Singapore’s economy. This shows the importance of copyright activities to Singapore’s economic growth and development.
- The study analysed twenty-nine creative and knowledge industries divided into four key sectors. One of the sectors, Core Copyright, included creative industries such as Press and Literature; Music, Theatrical Productions and Operas; Motion Picture and Video; Radio; and Television to name a few. Over a 15-year period, from 1986 to 2001, these core copyright industries grew at an annual compound rate of 12.8 percent in terms of nominal value added. This is 3.2% above the nominal annual growth the Singapore economy experienced over the same period. Results also showed that in 2001 over 110,000 people were employed in the creative industries, equivalent to 5.7 percent of the total employment in Singapore.
- Recognising the economic spin offs, it is important that Singapore continues to provide a conducive environment for IP-intensive industries to flourish. The movie industry is a prime example. For us in Singapore, movies have become a way of life. Contrary to what some doomsayers feared, the advent of CDs and VCDs have not heralded the demise of movies. Whether it is “Lord of the Rings”, “Money No Enough” or “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, good movies still pack them in. A key reason is because a good movie has fascinating storylines, witty conversations or fight scenes and memorable characters to enthral and entertain us. They make us laugh, sometimes cry and perhaps reflect on life in general. Steve Martin once said “You know what your problem is? It’s that you haven’t seen enough movies – all of life’s riddles are answered in the movies.”
- But, really, who is responsible for putting together the finished product? Well, put simply, they are all the people collaborating closely who bring a script to life. I have not been in a commercial movie, but have been “shot” countless times and know what getting a “talking head” on screen involves. Also, having acted in many plays, I have some knowedge of what creative performing arts entails. We are talking about writers, producers, sound engineers, directors, editors, gaffers, animators, actors, makeup artists, wardrobe co-ordinators, set designers, stunt people and more. Countless people. It often takes hundreds of people to make a movie with thousands of work hours and endless, long, 18-hour days to piece everything together.
- This unique production is IP. Its creators deserve to be recognised and rewarded for their work.
- Hence, we are all here today to see for the first time a one-minute trailer that will be screened at every cinema in Singapore starting this Thursday. To be shown before every movie, we are sending a strong message to all movie-goers - “Say NO! to Piracy”.
- Congratulations, MPA and IPOS for putting the campaign together. A big “Thank You” too to the cinemas and movie studios for their support in helping to spread the word.
- And now, let’s watch this trailer together!
Thank you. |
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