Backup copy of computer program
39. - Subject to subsection (2), the copyright in a literary work being
a computer program is not infringed by the making of a reproduction of the work,
or of a computer program being an adaptation of the work, if -
(a) the reproduction is made by, or on behalf of, the owner of the copy
(referred to in this section as the original copy) from which the
reproduction is made; and
(b) the reproduction is made for the purpose only of being used, by or on
behalf of the owner of the original copy, in lieu of the original copy in
the event that that the original copy is lost, destroyed or rendered
unusable.
(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply to the making of a reproduction of a computer
program, or of an adaptation of a computer program from an infringing copy
of the computer program.
(3) Notwithstanding section 31, it is not an infringement for the owner of a
copy of a computer program or compilation to make or authorise the making of
another copy or adaptation of that computer program provided that such a new
copy or adaptation is created as an essential step in the utilisation of the
computer program or compilation in conjunction with a machine and that it is
used in no other manner.
(4) Where an act is permitted under this section, it is irrelevant whether or
not there exists any term or condition in an agreement which purports to
prohibit or restrict the act, and such a term or condition shall, in so far
as it purports to prohibit or restrict the act, be void.
(5) For the purposes of this section, a reference to a copy of a computer
program or compilation or an adaptation of a computer program is a reference
to any article in which the computer program or adaptation is reproduced in a
material form.
See also this history of the validity of shrinkwrap licenses in Singapore.