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TRS editors apologise to SPH for copyright infringement, reach out of court settlement

Apology to SPHThe editors of The Real Singapore, the now defunct blog that was shut down for inciting anti-foreigner sentiment last year, have apologised to Singapore Press Holdings for using content of the Straits Times newspaper without the publisher’s permission.

SPH sued TRS editors Ai Takagi and Yang Kaiheng in May last year – the month that Singapore’s media regulator pulled the plug on their website – for reproducing, in part or completely, 244 Straits Times articles without consent.

A formal apology from Takagi is running in today’s print edition of the ST.

The apology admits to publishing hundreds of ST articles without the paper’s permission between 2 February 2008 and 29 March 2015, and therefore infringing copyright.

The second paragraph of the apology notes how SPH is an “authoritative provider” of news, and has invested heavily in putting together a “highly skilled” team.

Takagi pledged not to copy the ST’s content again, and apologised “unreservedly” in the statement.

The two editors are to pay a fine, although the size of the penalty is not disclosed in the story.

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