The Buzz staff charged for copyright infringement

Case Study:
In Manila, the Quezon City prosecutors office has charged eight
staff members of an ABS-CBN showbiz talk show for allegedly violating
copyright laws after using footage of a GMA 7 soap opera without the
networks consent. In a resolution dated 2008 but released only early
this month, eight production staff of showbiz talk show The Buzz
were charged in court for violating the Republic Act 8293 or the
Intellectual Property Code.
Assistant City Prosecutor Vesta Victoria Villamor indicted the
ABS-CBN employees on charges of violation of Section 177 and 211 of
the Intellectual Property Code.
According to the Republic Act no. 8293 of the Philippines, in
Section 177, copyright or economic rights shall consist of the exclusive
right to carry out, authorize or prevent the reproduction of the work or
substantial portion of the work and any other communication of the
work to the public. And Subject to the provisions of Section 212,
broadcasting organizations shall enjoy the exclusive right to carry out,
authorize or prevent any rebroadcasting of their broadcasts;
Named in the indictment were Nancy Yabut, executive producer;
Gia Nina Suyao, production manager; Jonathan Diaz, director; and Roxy
Liquigan, supervising producer and creative consultant. Also charged
were Lani Gutierrez, associate producer for technical matters; Jenny
Ingalia, associate producer; Romer Gonzales, head writer and Roldeo
Endrinal, reportedly of the shows executive management.
Villamor said in her six-page resolution that she found probable
cause to charge them in court as there was no merit to their defense of
ignorance. She, however, dismissed the case against ABS-CBN

executives Eugenio Lopez III, Luis Alejandro, Ma. Rosario Santos-Concio

and Ma. Socorro Vidanes for insufficiency of evidence. Villamor, in
indicting the eight staff members of The Buzz, noted that each
episode was a product of their meeting and brainstorming, and that
there was no merit to their defense of ignorance.
Human
respondents

experience
who

are

and

logic

experienced

would

dictate

employees

in

that
the

these

field

of

broadcasting knew beforehand that a news item about Jopay Paguia

would be tackled in their program. This fact should have put them on
guard instead of making it appear that they were ignorant of the
intended airing of the footage of Daisy Siete without the consent and
authority of FOCUS or GMA.
Ms. Paguia is a mainstay of GMA-7 afternoon program, Daisy Siete.
The afternoon soap opera features the Sexbomb dancers, of which
Paguia is a member.
The assistant prosecutor recommended a bail of P6,000 each for
the respondents provisional liberty and the case has then been raffled
to Regional Trial Court Branch 90. The case stemmed from a complaint
filed by GMA Network Inc through its counsel Dick Perez, and Focus
Entertainment, Inc., which produced the soap opera Daisy Siete. The
two entities claimed that the unauthorized airing of footages from
Daisy Siete happened during the Feb. 13, 2005 broadcast of The
Buzz. In their complaint, GMA 7 and Focus alleged that the portion
included in The Buzzs opening billboard or OBB was the scene of
Jopay Paguia walking beside and mounting a jeepney while holding a
yellow flower with the text Jopay Paguia at the bottom of the screen.
The rival of ABS-CBN, GMA 7 claimed that the respondents
allegedly used the footage after rumors circulated that Paguia was
quitting the group. And in their defense, the respondents maintained

they didnt violate any copyright laws as the airing of the footage was
just for a few seconds and was intended as part of a report on current
events. They added that under the Intellectual Property Codes Article
185, the reproduction of a material has been allowed under the Fair
Use principle.
According to the Republic Act no. 8293 of the Philippines, 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 understood here to be the reproduction of the
code and translation of the forms of the computer program to achieve
the inter-operability of an independently created computer program
with other programs may also constitute fair use. In determining
whether the use made of a work in any particular case is fair use.

Was there a violation of Intellectual Property Rights?

The Executive and Producer Staff members of ABS CBNs showbiz
talk show The Buzz used the footage of a news item about Jopay
Paguia in GMA 7s soap opera Daisy Siete without the networks
consent to reproduce the video.
So yes, there is a violation in the Intellectual Property Rights,
because even if the respondents said that under the Intellectual
Property Codes Article 185, the reproduction of a material has been
allowed under the Fair Use principle. The fair use of a copyrighted
work for news reporting is not an infringement of copyright. However,
its not reproduced by the networks news but instead it was
reproduced by a talk show, which is The Buzz. They violated the
Intellectual Property code of Chapter V: Copyrights or Economic Rights,
Section 177 wherein it is stated that Subject to the provisions of
Chapter VIII, copyright or economic rights shall consist of the

exclusive right to carry out, authorize or prevent the following

acts: 177.1 Reproduction of the work or substantial portion of
the

work;

177.2.

Dramatization,

translation,

adaptation,

abridgment, arrangement or other transformation of the work;

177.5. Public display of the original or a copy of the work;
Together

with

the

Intellectual

Property

code

of

Chapter

XIV:

Broadcasting Organizations, Section 211: Scope of Rights wherein it is

stated

that

Subject

to

the

provisions

of

Section

212,

broadcasting organizations shall enjoy the exclusive right to

carry out, authorize or prevent any of the following acts:
211.1. The rebroadcasting of their broadcasts; 211.2. The
recording in any manner, including the making of films or the
use of video tape, of their broadcasts for the purpose of
communication to the public of television broadcasts of the
same;

and

211.3.

The

use

of

such

records

for

fresh

transmissions or for fresh recording. (Sec. 52, P.D. No. 49).

However, the footage from GMAs soap opera Daisy Siete used
in the showbiz show The Buzz is not a public property and it can only
be allowed with a consent or permission given, but in this case, its not.

Sources:
http://entertainment.inquirer.net/170/%E2%80%98the-buzz
%E2%80%99-staff-charged-for-copyright-infringement
https://gmanetwork.wordpress.com/2011/03/17/%E2%80%98the-buzz
%E2%80%99-staff-charged-for-copyright-infringement/
http://www.keywordspeak.com/2011/03/buzz-staffs-copyrightinfringement-case.html
http://www.ipophil.gov.ph/images/Patents/IRRs/RepublicAct8293.pdf