Legitimizing Reverse Engineering Of Computer Programs In Copyright Law -- How Far Have We Gone In Singapore?
N.-L. W. LOON · International Journal of Law and Information Technology · 1996
The High Court of Singapore has recently delivered a significant judgment in the field of copyright and reverse engineering. This article examines the case of Aztech Systems Pte. Ltd. vs. Creative Technology Ltd. which held that the provision in the Singaporean Copyright Act of 1987 which permits a user to copy a work for the purposes of private study or research extended to the situation where the private study was carried out in the course of commercial activities and where the study and the information and knowledge acquired through it ‘were kept or removed from public knowledge or observation’. The distinction between ‘black box’ reverse engineering and decompilation is considered and it is suggested that there may be need for legislative intervention to clarify the legality of the latter form of behaviour.