Intellectual Property Right

Intellectual property protection is important in fostering innovation.

Without protection of ideas, individuals will not be able to enjoy the full
benefit of their inventions and they would not be compensated for their
creations. This encourages innovation without the fear that a competitor
will steal the idea and/or take the credit for it.

Intellectual property, according to World Intellectual Property Organization

(WIPO), refers to creations of the mind such as inventions; literary and
artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in
commerce. An intellectual property right is a right held by a person or by a
company to have exclusive rights over these. Internationally, these
intellectual properties are protected by the World Intellectual Property
Organization to which the Philippines is one of the 191 member states. In
our country, we have the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines
(IPOPHIL) which administers and implements state policies in relation to
intellectual property. This office was created through Republic Act 8293.
This act defines intellectual property to include copyright and related
rights; trademarks and service marks; geographic indications; industrial
designs; patents; layout designs (topographies) of integrated circuits; and
protection of undisclosed information. In the education. Setting, copyright
and related rights are the ones applicable.

The Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines

The resources that teachers utilize in the classroom must not violate
copyright regulations. They can do this by buying the author's or
publisher's materials or by using ones marked as “free” to use in the
classroom per the publisher's stated policies.

Copyright in the school setting can be fully understood through the

Republic Act 8293, described as “An Act Prescribing the Intellectual
Property Code and Establishing the Intellectual Property Office, Providing
for its Powers and Functions, and Other Purposes.” This is widely known as
the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines.

RA 8293 — AN ACT PRESCRIBING THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

CODE AND ESTABLISHING THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE,
PROVIDING FOR ITS POWERS AND FUNCTIONS, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES

THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE

Section 1. Title. – This Act shall be known as the “Intellectual Property
Code of the Philippines.”

Section 2. Declaration of State Policy. – The State recognizes that an

effective intellectual and industrial property system is vital to the
development of domestic and creative activity, facilitates transfer of
technology, attracts foreign investments, and ensures market access for
our products. It shall protect and secure the exclusive rights of scientists,
inventors, artists and other gifted citizens to their intellectual property and
creations, particularly when beneficial to the people, for such periods as
provided in this Act.

Section 3. International Conventions and Reciprocity. – Any person

who is a national or who is domiciled or has a real and effective industrial
establishment in a country which is a party to any convention, treaty or
agreement relating to intellectual property rights or the repression of
unfair competition, to which the Philippines is also a party, or extends
reciprocal rights to nationals of the Philippines by law, shall be entitled to
benefits to the extent necessary to give effect to any provision of such
convention, treaty or reciprocal law, in addition to the rights to which any
owner of an intellectual property right is otherwise entitled by this Act. (n)

Section 4. Definitions. – 4.1. The term “intellectual property rights”

consists of:

a) Copyright and Related Rights; Protects creative works like books,

music, paintings, and films, ensuring authors and artists can control
and profit from their creations.
b) Trademarks and Service Marks; Protects distinctive symbols,
words, or phrases used to identify and distinguish goods or services
from competitors.
c) Geographic Indications;
d) Industrial Designs; Protects the aesthetic appearance of a
product, such as its shape or design.
e) Patents; Grants exclusive rights to an invention, allowing the
patent holder to control how it is used, manufactured, and sold for a
limited period.
f) Layout-Designs (Topographies) of Integrated Circuits; The
protection of layout-designs (topographies) of integrated circuits
prevents unauthorized copying or reproduction of the designs used
in semiconductor products.
and
g) Protection of Undisclosed Information (n, TRIPS). Protection of
undisclosed information safeguards trade secrets and confidential
 business information from being disclosed, used, or acquired
without consent.

Section 5. Functions of the Intellectual Property Office (IPO). – 5.1.

To administer and implement the State policies declared in this Act, there
is hereby created the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) which shall have
the following functions:

a) Examine applications for grant of letters patent for inventions and

register utility models and industrial designs;
b) Examine applications for the registration of marks, geographic
indication, integrated circuits;
c) Register technology transfer arrangements and settle disputes
involving technology transfer payments covered by the provisions of
Part II, Chapter IX on Voluntary Licensing and develop and
implement strategies to promote and facilitate technology transfer;
d) Promote the use of patent information as a tool for technology
development;
e) Publish regularly in its own publication the patents, marks, utility
models and industrial designs, issued and approved, and the
technology transfer arrangements registered;
f) Administratively adjudicate contested proceedings affecting
intellectual property rights; and
g) Coordinate with other government agencies and the private sector
efforts to formulate and implement plans and policies to strengthen
the protection of intellectual property rights in the country.

5.2. The Office shall have custody of all records, books, drawings,
specifications, documents, and other papers and things relating to
intellectual property rights applications filed with the Office. (n)

According to RA 8293, copyright is a collection of all rights enjoyed by the

owner of an artistic or literary work. Copyright protection gives the creator
the right to reproduce, distribute, perform, and display his/her work and
protects him/her from other’s stealing ideas.

Government Agencies in Charge of Copyright

The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHIL), which

superseded the Bureau of Patents, Trademarks, and Technology Transfer,
is the main government institution responsible for administering the
Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines. It is divided into six bureaus:
the Bureau of Patents, the Bureau of Trademarks, the Bureau of Legal
Affairs, the Bureau of Documentation, Information, and Technology
Transfer, the Bureau of Management Information System and Electronic
Data Processing, and the Bureau of Administrative, Financial, and
Personnel Services.

Copyrightable Works in the Philippines

Under Philippine laws, original intellectual creations in the literary and

artistic domain, which are copyrightable include:

 Books, pamphlets, articles, and other writings;

 Periodicals and newspapers;
 Lectures, sermons, addresses, dissertations prepared for oral
delivery;
 Letters
 Dramatic or dramaticol-musical compositions;
 Choreographic works or entertainment in dumb shows;
 Musical compositions;
 Drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving, lithography;
 Models or designs for works of art;
 Original ornamental designs or models for articles of manufacture;
 Illustrations, maps, plans, sketches, charts, and three-dimensional
works relative to geography, topography, architecture, or science;
 Drawings or plastic works of a scientific or technical character;
 Photographic works, including works produced by a process
analogous to photography;
 Lantern slides;
 Audio-visual works and cinematographic works and works produced
by a process analogous to cinematography or any process for
making audio-recordings;
And
 Pictorial illustrations and advertisements and computer programs.

Derivative works are also protected as new works, provided that they do
not affect the existing copyright on original works. Derivative works
include:

 Dramatizations, translations, adaptations, abridgements,

arrangements, and other alterations of literary music work;
 Collections of literary, scholarly, or artistic works and compilations
of data; and
 Other materials that are original by reason of the selection,
coordination, or arrangement of their contents.
However, the following works are not protected by copyright under
Philippine laws, to wit:

 Idea, procedure, system method or operation, concept, principle,

discovery, or mere data as such, even if they are expressed,
explained, illustrated, or embodied in a work.
 News of the day and other miscellaneous facts having the character
of mere items of press information.
 Official text of a legislative, administrative, or legal nature, as well
as any official translation thereof
 Work of the Philippine Government, unless there was a prior
approval by the appropriate government agency
 Statutes, rules and regulations, speeches, lectures, sermons,
addresses, and dissertations, pronounced, read, or rendered in
courts of justice, before administrative agencies, in deliberative
assemblies, and meetings of public character.

RA 8293 further provides that copyrightable works are protected from

the moment of their creation. Thus, copyright registration is not
necessary to protect artistic or literary works. The owner of the work or
his/her assignees or successors-in-interest has the right to apply for
copyright registration. The owners of original literary and artistic works
are:

1. The author of the work;

2. If the work is of joint ownership:
2.1 The co-authors are the original owners, and in the absence of
agreement, their rights shall be governed by co-ownership rules;
and
2.2 The author of each part is the owner of such part he/she
created if the work consists of parts that can be used separately and
the author of each part can be identified;
3. If the work is created in the course of employment:
3.1 The employee is the owner when the work created is not part
of the employee’s regular duties even when he uses the time,
facilities, and materials of the employer;
3.2 The employer is the owner when the work created results from
the performance of the employee’s regularly assigned duties unless
otherwise agreed upon and
4. If the work was commissioned, the one who commissioned the work
jointly owns it with the author/creator but the copyright of the work
remains with author/creator, unless otherwise agreed upon.
In the case of audio-visual work, the copyright belongs to the producer,
the author of the scenario, the music composer, the film director, and
the author of the work adapted. However, unless otherwise agreed
upon among the creators, the producer has the right to exercise
copyright to the extent required for the exhibition of the work in any
manner, except for the right to collect license fees for the performance
of musical compositions, with or without words, which are incorporated
into the work.

With respect to letters, the copyright belongs to the writer subject to

the following:

Letters and other private written communications are owned by the

person to whom they are addressed and delivered. However, the same
cannot be published or disseminated without the writer’s or his heirs’
consent.

However, the court may authorize the publication or dissemination if

the public goods or the interest of justice so requires.

Duration of Copyright Protection

The duration of the copyright protection is further provided in RA 8293,

as follows:

 In the Philippines, copyright protection for artistic, literary, and

derivative works lasts during the author’s lifetime plus 50 years
after the author’s death. This term of protection also applies to
posthumous works. In the case of joint authorship, the economic
rights shall be protected during the lifetime of the last surviving
author plus 50 years after such author’s death.
 In the case of anonymous or pseudonymous works, copyright
protection shall last for 50 years from the date the work was first
lawfully published. If the work was not published, it shall be
protected for 50 years from the creation of the work.
 Works of applied art shall be protected for 25 years from the date of
their creation.
 Audio-visual works shall be protected for 50 years from the
publication date. If it is unpublished, it is protected for 50 years from
the date of creation.
 Performances not incorporated in recordings shall be protected for
50 years from the end of the year in which the performance took
place. Sound or image and sound recordings and performances
incorporated therein shall be protected for 50 years from the end of
the year in which the recording took place.
  Broadcasts shall be protected for 20 years from the date the
broadcast took place.

Rights Conferred to the Author of a Work

The author has the exclusive right to carry out, authorize, or prevent the:

 Reproduction of the work or substantial portion of the work;

 Dramatization, translation, adaptation, abridgment, arrangement, or
other transformation of the 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 the copy of an Audio-visual or
cinematographic work, a work embodied in a sound recording, a
computer program, a compilation of data and other materials or a
musical work in graphic form, and irrespective of the ownership of
the original or the copy which is the subject of the rental;
 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.

Moral rights confer the following on the author of a work that his name, as
far as practicable, be indicated prominently on the copies and in
connection with the public use of his work;

 To make any alterations of his work prior, or to withhold it from

publication;
 To object to any distortion, mutilation, or other modification of, or
other derogatory action in relation to, his work which would be
prejudicial to his honor or reputation; and
 To restrain the use of his name with respect to any work not of his
creation or in a distorted version of his work.

Copyright Infringement in the Philippines

Under Philippine law, copyright infringement occurs when there is a

violation of any of the exclusive economic or moral rights granted to the
copyright owner, such as:

 Selling or letting for hire, or by way of trade offering or exposing for

sale or hire, the article;
 Distributing the article for trade or for any other purpose to the
extent that will prejudice the rights of the copyright owner in work;
or
 trade exhibit of the article in public.
Under Philippine law, copyright infringement is punishable by the
following:

 Imprisonment of 1 to 3 years and a fine of 50,000 to 150,000 pesos

for the first offense;
 Imprisonment of 3 years and one day to six years plus a fine of
150,000 to 500,000 pesos for the second offense;
 Imprisonment of 6 years and one day to 9 years plus a fine ranging
from 500,000 to 1,500,000 pesos for the third and subsequent
offenses; and
 The offending party may also be ordered to pay civil damages.

Fair Use

Fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited purpose.
Fair use is a doctrine that allows limited use of copyrighted material
without requiring permission from the right holders. It is a defense against
a claim of copyright infringement (Stanford Libraries, n.d.).

Four factors are looked at to determine fair use, namely:

1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is
of a commercial nature or is for non-profit educational purposes
2. The nature of the copyrighted work
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the
copyrighted work as a whole
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the
copyrighted work

The fair use of a copyrighted work for criticism, comment, news, reporting,
and teaching, including multiple copies for classroom use, scholarship,
research, and similar purposes, is not an infringement of copyright.
Decompilation, which is the reproduction of the code and translation of
the forms of the computer programs to achieve the interoperability of an
independently created computer program with other programs, may also
constitute fair use.