Knowing one’s iP right

Copyright registrations at the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines or IPOPhl reached record-high levels last year. And this, according to IPOPhl, signifies increased awareness of the importance of copyright registration.

This does not mean, however, that one needs to register a literary and artistic work in order to obtain copyright protection. The Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines provides that works are protected by the sole fact of their creation, irrespective of their mode or form of expression as well as of their content, quality and purpose.

There are two requirements in order to obtain copyright. First is that the work is a literary and artistic work and second, the work must be original. And by original, we mean one that was not copied from another work.

Data from IPOPhl show that copyright registrations reached 6,522 in 2023 or a 76 percent increase from the 3,706 registrations in 2022. The books, pamphlets, articles, e-books, audio books, comics, novels and other writings category accounted for 52.6 percent of copyright registrations, followed by audiovisual works and cinematographic works at 18.1 percent, and computer programs, software, games and applications at 8.8 percent.

IPOPhl director general Rowel Barba explained that although copyright protection is provided automatically upon creation, registration certificates provide an added layer of protection to copyrighted works.

For his part, Bureau of Copyright and Related Rights (BCRR) director Emerson Cuyo encouraged creatives to utilize the IP system, especially since copyright registration can easily be done online. He noted that in just a few clicks and in just a few days, one can safeguard his or her work and navigate the future with greater confidence over the ownership of one’s work.

One registrant emphasized that the official recognition from a certificate signifies not only a legal acknowledgment but also a celebration of one’s dedication, passion and unwavering commitment to his art while another commended the convenient, simplified and systematic registration process, adding that BCCR’s system is definitely a great help to the IP community.

Literary and artistic works include books, pamphlets, articles and other writings; periodicals and newspapers; lectures, sermons, addresses, dissertations; letters; dramatic or dramatic-musical compositions, choreographic works; musical compositions; works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving; original ornamental designs or models for articles of manufacture and other works of applied art; illustrations, maps, plans, sketches, charts; drawings or plastic works of a scientific or technical character; photographic works; audiovisual and cinematographic works; pictorial illustrations and advertisements; and computer programs.

Derivative works are also protected by copyright. These include dramatizations, translations, adaptations, abridgments, arrangements and other alterations of literary or artistic works; as well as collections of literary, scholarly or artistic works.

There are also related rights granted to producers of sound recordings, performers over their performances, and broadcasting organizations over their broadcast. What rights do copyright owners enjoy over their works? According to the IP Code, copyright or economic rights shall consist of the exclusive right to carry out, authorize, or prevent the following acts: reproduction of the work; making of derivative works from one’s original literary or artistic work; the first public distribution of the original and each copy of the work by sale or other forms of transfer of ownership; rental of the original or a copy of an audiovisual or cinematographic work, work embodied in a sound recording; public display of the original or a copy of the work; public performance of the work; and other communication to the public of the work.

Copyright infringement meanwhile occurs when one performs any of these economic rights granted to the copyright owner or to the owners of related rights without the permission of the copyright owner, unless the use without permission is allowed by law. Copyright infringement is not limited to copying another’s work without permission but the unauthorized performance of any of the economic rights granted by law or the copyright owner.

A person whose copyright has been infringed can either file a civil or criminal case for damages and/or administrative complaint against the infringer.

One of the most abused if not misunderstood limitations on copyright is fair use as well as attribution of authorship of a work. We often see photos, articles posted online with the words “CTTO” or credit to the owner or “consistent with fair use.” Make no mistake as this will not automatically absolve one of liability for unauthorized use of a copyrighted work.

The IP Code provides that fair use of a copyrighted work for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching including limited number of copies for classroom use, scholarship, research and similar purposes is not an infringement of copyright.

Copyright infringement is also not synonymous with plagiarism. One can plagiarize a work that is not copyrighted but if one plagiarizes a copyrighted work, then plagiarism can become a criminal offense.

When restaurants and other establishments play music from the radio for the listening pleasure of the customers, the restaurant owner must get the permission of the owner of the copyrighted songs. Otherwise, this act amounts to copyright infringement since public performance and communication of a work to the public is an exclusive right that belongs to the copyright owner, according to the Supreme Court. In another recent case, the SC held that bands or singers that use copyrighted songs in their public performances must pay royalties to and seek permission from the copyright owner, otherwise they are liable for copyright infringement.

How can one prove that he or she owns the copyright to a work especially in a case for copyright infringement? That is when obtaining a certificate of copyright registration becomes useful.

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