Copyright protects Papal Mass image of Mary in Leyte
The image of Our Lady of Hope used in the historic Papal Mass in Leyte is now copyright-protected. The National Library of the Philippines and the Intellectual Property Office officially issued the copyright on the image Our Lady of Hope of Palo to its carver, Presidential Merit Awardee for Ecclesiastical Art Willy Layug.
Layug registered the image under Registration Number H-2015-0016, under which the period of protection extends to 50 years after the artist’s death. He decided to register the image after receiving reports of people who are copying his image and selling the copies for profit.
He expressed alarm over the operations of a Manila company which has been producing resin replicas of the image and selling them openly.
Layug revealed plans to replicate the image and use the generated sales for the benefit of people in devastated areas, an alternative that is much better than unscrupulous businessmen profiting from the growing devotion to the Blessed Virgin.
Layug’s work is seven feet tall, including the base of the Blessed Virgin Mary holding the Child Jesus. The Child Jesus is seen extending his hand through a cross to three children in the middle of a storm. Layug donated the original image to the Archdiocese of Palo for the Papal Mass.
The artist explained that the image illustrates how faith guided the people of the Visayas to survive and overcome the calamity that ravaged the region.
The original image of Our Lady of Hope of Palo is currently enshrined at the Palo Cathedral where it is steadily gaining devotees who travel all the way to Palo from various parts of the country.