Copyright law of the Philippines

Philippine copyright law is enshrined in the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, officially known as Republic Act No. 8293. The law is partly based on United States copyright law and the principles of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. Unlike many other copyright laws, Philippine copyright laws also protect patents, trademarks, and other forms of intellectual property.

There are also other laws that protect copyrights: the Optical Media Act (which protects music, movies, computer programs, and video games) is an example of such.

The law is enforced through a body established by the law: the Intellectual Property Office, or IPO, and its various branches. Copyright implementation is done with the coordination of the IPO and the Copyright Division of the National Library of the Philippines.

Classes

The Intellectual Property Code splits works that may be copyrighted into 17 classes, listed from A to Q. While all the classes listed are specifically for copyrighted material, trademarks and other forms of intellectual property, depending on what it is, are covered as well. Patents do not have a category.

• A: Literature (books, pamphlets, etc.)
• B: Periodicals (newspapers, tabloids, magazines, etc.)
• C: Public speeches and other public speaking works (speeches, lectures, sermons, etc.)
• D: Letters
• E: Television or movie scripts, choreography, and entertainment in shows
• F: Musical works (lyrics, songs, song arrangements, etc.)
• G: Art products (drawings, paintings. sculptures, etc.)
• H: Ornamental designs and other forms of applied art (not necessarily industrial designs)
• I: Geographical, topographical, architectural, and scientific works (maps, charts, plans, etc.)
• J: Scientific and technical drawings
• K: Photographs and cinematographic works made in a process similar to photography
• L: Audio-visual works and cinematographic works made in a process similar to making audio-visual works
• M: Pictures used in advertising (includes logos)
• N: Computer programs
• O: Other works not covered in classes A-N of a literary, scholarly, scientific, or artistic nature
• P: Sound recordings
• Q: Broadcasts

Fair use

Section 185 of the Intellectual Property Code provides for fair use of copyrighted material. The criteria for fair use is almost identical to the fair use doctrine in United States copyright law, with the exception that even unpublished works qualify as fair use under Philippine copyright law.

Moral rights

Moral rights, which can be exercised by any copyright holders (individuals, corporations, etc.), are enshrined in Chapter 10 of the Intellectual Property Code. However, Section 193 of the code (which is also in Chapter 10), which also outlines a copyright holder's moral rights, makes these rights independent of economic rights outlined in Section 177 of the code.

Under Philippine copyright law, moral rights are relatively expansive on the behalf of the copyright holder, which are listed below:

• Attribution
  • The right to be prominently displayed as the creator of the copyrighted material, in any form practical to the work
  • The right to change or even withhold the work from circulation
• Integrity of ownership
  • The right to object to any alteration detrimental to the name of the creator of the material
  • The right to restraining the use of the creator's name in a work not of his making

Copyright holders are not allowed to be forced to create or publish his or her works already published, as that could be classified as a breach of contract. However, the copyright holder could also be held liable for breach of contract.

The Intellectual Property Code also permits the waiver of moral rights in most cases, but does not allow it if the following situations occur:

• If the creator's name will be used to damage the reputation of another person
• If the creator's name will be used to give credit to something he or she did not make

Moral rights are automatically waived in collective works unless the copyright holders expressly reserve their moral rights. Also, if no objections have been made during the time a copyright holder waives his or her moral rights or even if moral rights were waived unconditionally, works altered or even destroyed would not constitute as a violation of moral rights.

In the Philippines, the term of moral rights, unless they were waived, is the same as the term of copyright of a literary work (lifetime plus 50 years). Violation of moral rights may also be contested as a violation of the Civil Code. Any damages collected under the Civil Code shall be given to the copyright holder, or if the holder is already dead, be put in a trust account to be given to the copyright holder's heirs. If the heirs defaulted, the damages go to the government.

Ownership of copyright

As the country is a party to the Berne Convention, Philippine copyright law expressly gives copyright ownership to the copyright holder automatically for creative works which fit in one of the categories.

Government copyright

Government copyright under Philippine copyright law is established in Section 176 and its subsections. Under the section, all official Philippine texts of a "legislative, administrative, or judicial nature" or any official translation of those kinds of texts may not be copyrighted and are in the public domain. Aside from government documents, no work of the Philippine government, as well as the works of government-owned and/or controlled corporations, can be copyrighted (images, documents, and the like). However, prior approval is needed if a government work will be used for making a profit (most notably the Philippine constitution).

There are exceptions to the rule: the author of any public speaking works may have the works compiled, published, and copyrighted, and the government is permitted to receive and hold copyrights it received as a gift or assigned. However, such copyrights may not be shortened or annulled without prior consent of the copyright holder.

Composite copyright

There are no provisions in Philippine copyright law on the issue of composite copyrights. However, composite copyrights are permitted usually in the form of split copyrights, where each part of a work is copyrighted (works best for audio-visual works, sound recordings, and cinematographic works).

Legal action on copyright infringement

The Intellectual Property Code gives the power of mediating copyright problems (before, during, and after the copyright application process) to a bureau of the Intellectual Property Office known as the Bureau of Legal Affairs, as covered by Section 10 of the code. This body is empowered with the following functions:

• Hear objections on items being applied for copyright
• Address copyright violations where damages are no less than 200,000 pesos
• Give the following penalties for copyright violations:
  • Issue cease and desist orders which have a fixed time where the copyright violator must stop violating the copyright being infringed
  • Accept voluntary orders of compliance or discontinuance as ordered by the Director of Legal Affairs which must consist of the following:
    • Assurance to comply with the intellectual property law violated
    • Assurance to refrain from unlawful activity on the case being investigated
    • Assurance to refund, replace, recall, or repair defective products
    • Assurance to reimburse the complainant (usually the copyright holder) of all charges, fees, and payments related to the case
  • Seizure of the products that have been subject to infringement
  • Forfeiture of all paraphernalia and properties (whether real or personal) involved with the infringement
  • Imposition of administrative of fines no less than 50,000 pesos but no more than 300,000 pesos. For every day of continued violation, a fine of 5,000 pesos is imposed.
  • Cancellation of any document (permit, registration, etc.) attributed to the product at the discretion of the Director of Legal Affairs
  • Withholding of any document pending approval of the Bureau from the respondent (the copyright violator)
  • Assessment of damages
  • Censorship of the product
  • Other penalties in line with Executive Order 983 (1983)
• The power to implement this section

External links

• The Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines
• Frequently asked questions on Philippine copyright law