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Copyright

International Treaties and Agreements


 Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (August 1, 1951)
 Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonographs and Broadcasting
Organizations (September 25, 1984)
 World Trade Organization WTO - Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights (January 1, 1995)
 WIPO Copyright Treaty and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (ratified by the
Philippines on October 4, 2002)
 Beijing Treaty (signed on June 26, 2012) – Treaty on the Protection of Audiovisual Performances
o The treaty gives audiovisual performers, actors, singers and other persons whose
performance are embodied in films, broadcasts and/or disseminated in the internet
certain economic and moral rights that would enable them to control the use of their
creative works while taking into account the valid interests of producers and the general
viewing public

Note:
 With this international legal framework, actors like Dolphy, whose movies have brought
happiness to generations of Filipinos for 5 decades, are assured that their performances are
protected all over the world and can be a continuing source of revenues for them

Kho vs CA
Right over literary and artistic works which are original intellectual creations in the literary and artistic
domain protected from the moment of creation.

Columbia Pictures vs CA
Since Sec. 2 of PD 49 provides that “the right granted under this Decree shall, from the moment of
creation, subsist with respect to any of the following classes of works,” then even with respect to works
which are required under the Decree to be registered and with copies to be deposited with National
Library, the failure to comply with said requirements does not deprive the copyright owner of the right
to sue for infringement; it merely limits the remedies available to him and subjects him to the
corresponding sanction.

Sec. 172
 Rights are conferred from the moment of creation
 The work is deemed created if something original is expressed in a fixed manner
Copyright vs Patents

Pearl & Dean vs Shoemart, Inc. et al


P & D’s complaint was that SMI infringed on its copyright over the light boxes when SMI had the units
manufactured by Metro and EYD Rainbow Advertising for its own account. There was no copyright
infringement, the copyright was limited to the drawings alone and not to the light box itself. Petitioner’s
copyright protection extended only to the technical drawings and not to the light box itself because the
latter was not at all in the category of “prints, pictorial illustrations, advertising copies, labels, tags and
box wraps.” P & D indeed owned a valid copyright, the same could have referred only to the technical
drawings within the category of “pictorial illustrations.” The light box was not a literary or artistic piece
which could be copyrighted under the copyright law.

A patent gives the inventor the right to exclude all others. As a patentee, he has the exclusive right of
making, selling or using the invention. To be able to effectively and legally preclude others from copying
and profiting from the invention, a patent is a primordial requirement. No patent, no protection. The
ultimate goal of a patent system is to bring new designs and technologies into the public domain
through disclosure. Ideas, once disclosed to the public without the protection of a valid patent, are
subject to appropriation without significant restraint. An exclusive enjoyment is guaranteed him for 17
years, but upon the expiration of that period, the knowledge of the invention inures to the people, who
are thus enabled to practice it and profit by its use.

The law confers the copyright from the moment of creation and the copyright certificate is issued upon
registration with the National Library of a sworn ex-parte claim of creation. Therefore, not having gone
through examination for patents, the petitioner cannot exclude others from the manufacture, sale or
commercial use of the light boxes on the sole basis of its copyright certificate over the technical
drawings.

“Poster Ads” could validly qualify as a trademark. The failure of P & D to secure a trademark registration
for specific use on the light boxes meant that there could not have been any trademark infringement
since registration was an essential element thereof. “Poster Ads” was generic and incapable of being
used as a trademark because it was used in the field of poster advertising, the very business engaged in
by petitioner. Doctrine of secondary meaning means that a word or phrase originally incapable of
exclusive appropriation with reference to an article in the market (because it is geographically or
otherwise descriptive) might nevertheless have been used for so long and so exclusively by one
producer with reference to his article that, in the trade and to that branch of the purchasing public, the
word or phrase has come to mean that the article was his property.

Does the copyright over the engineering drawings extend ipso facto to the actual light boxes depicted
or illustrated in the said drawings?
 Copyright registration of a drawing or pictorial illustration which depicts light boxes or box-type
electrical devices protects the drawing but not the light box depicted therein
Copyrightable Objects
A. Original Literary and Artistic Works
 Books, pamphlets, articles and other writings
 Periodicals and newspapers
 Lectures, sermons, addresses, dissertations prepared for oral delivery, whether or not reduced
in writing or other material form
 Letters
 Dramatic or dramatico-musical compositions
 Choreographic works or entertainment in dumb shows
 Musical compositions, with or without words
 Works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving, lithography or other works of art,
models or designs for works of art
 Original ornamental designs or models for articles or manufacture, whether or not registrable as
an industrial design, and other works of applied art
 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
 Audiovisual works and cinematographic works and works produced by a process analogous to
cinematography or any process for making audio-visual recordings
 Pictorial illustrations and advertisements
 Computer programs
 Other literary, scholarly, scientific and artistic works
B. Derivative Works
 Dramatizations, translations, adaptations, abridgments, arrangements, and other alterations of
literary or artistic works
 Collections of literary, scholarly or artistic works, and compilations of data and other materials
which are original by reason of the selection or coordination arrangement of their contents

E-COMMERCE ACT (RA 8792)

Extent of Liability of a Service Provider


 No person or party shall be subject to any civil or criminal liability in respect of the electronic
data message or electronic document for which the person or party acting as a service provider
merely provides access if such liability is founded on – the making, publication, dissemination or
distribution of such material or any statement made in such material, including possible
infringement of any right subsisting in or in relation to such material
Unprotected Works
a) Any 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
b) News of the day and other miscellaneous facts having the character of mere items of press
information
c) Any official text of a legislative, administrative or legal nature, as well as any official translation
thereof
d) Any work of the Government of the Philippines

AM No. 04-7-06-SC July 20, 2004


 Authors who reproduce judgements rendered are required to furnish the Court with copies of
their works
 Reporters – Whether in print or digitalized format, will still be allowed to reproduce SC decision
provided copies are furnished the Court for its use

Surigao Mineral Reservation Board vs Cloribel


Decisions of courts and tribunals are not copyrightable but a lawyer is not free to misquote the law or
decision. If he does, he faces disciplinary actions.

Government Copyright
 Prior approval shall be necessary for exploitation for such work for profit
 Such agency or office may impose as a condition the payment of royalties
 Not applicable to: statutes, rules and regulations, and speeches, lectures, sermons addresses,
and dissertation, pronounced, read or rendered in court of justice, before administrative
agencies, in deliberative assemblies and in meetings of public character
 Authors of – speeches, lectures, sermons addresses, and dissertation, pronounced, read or
rendered in court of justice, before administrative agencies, in deliberative assemblies and in
meetings of public character has exclusive right of making a collection of his works
o Government has the right to receive/hold copyrights
o provide SC copies reproduced

Francisco G. Joaquin, Jr. vs Franklin Drilon et al


The substance of the television productions complainant’s “RHODA AND ME” and Zosa’s “IT’S A DATE” is
that two matches are made between a male and a female, both single, and the two couples are treated
to a night or two of dining and/or dancing at the expense of the show. The major concepts of both
shows are the same. Any difference appears mere variations of the major concepts.

That there is an infringement on the copyright of the show “RHODA AND ME” both in content and in the
execution of the video presentation are established because respondent’s “IT’S A DATE” is practically an
exact copy of complainant’s “RHODA AND ME” because of substantial similarities as follows:

“RHODA AND ME” “IT’S A DATE”


a. Unmarried participant a. same
b. Searcher asks a question b. same
c. Searcher speculates on the match to the c. same
searchee
d. Selection is made by the use of compute d. Selection is based on the answer of the
methods, or by the way questions are answered, searchees
or similar methods

The format of a show is not copyrightable. The format or mechanics of a television show is not included
in the list of protected works. The copyright does not extend to an idea, procedure, process, system,
method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described,
explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work. The copyright does not extend to the general concept
or format of its dating game show. A television show includes more than mere words can describe
because it involves a whole spectrum of visuals and effects, video and audio, such that no similarity or
dissimilarity may be found by merely describing the general copyright/format of both dating game
shows.

Copyright Ownership
 One Creator – the creator, his heirs or assigns
 Joint Creation – co-authors shall be the original owners
 Commissioned Work – the person commissioning owns the work; ownership of copyright
remains with the creator, unless there is a written stipulation to the contrary
 Audio-Visual Work – producer for purposes of exhibition; for all other purposes, the producer,
the author if the scenario, the composer, the film director, the photographic director and the
author of the work are the owners
 Pseudonymous and Anonymous Works – unless the author is undisputedly known, the publisher
shall be presumed to be the representative of the author
 Employee’s Work During Course of Employment – employer, if the result of regular functions or
duties but the employee owns it if it is not part of his duties

Rights of Authors/Creators
1. Right to Reproduce
2. Right to Prepare Derivative Works
3. Right to First Public Distribution
4. Right of Rental
5. Right to Display
6. Right to Perform
7. Other Communication to the Public

Reproduction – the making of 1 or more copies, temporary or permanent, in whole or in part, of a work
or a sound recording in any manner or form
Public Performance – the recitation, playing, dancing, acting or otherwise performing the work, either
directly or by means of any device or process
 In the case of an audiovisual work, the showing of its images in sequence and the making of the
sounds accompanying it audible
 In the case of a sound recording, making the recorded sounds audible at a place or at places
where persons outside the normal circle of a family and that family’s closest social
acquaintances are or can be present, irrespective of whether they are or can be present at the
same place and at the same time, or at different places and/or at different times, and where the
performance can be perceived without the need for communication

Communication to the Public or Communicate to the Public – any communication to the public,
including broadcasting, rebroadcasting, retransmitting by cable, broadcasting and retransmitting by
satellite, and includes the making of a work available to the public by wire or wireless means in such a
way that members of the public may access these works from a place and time individually chosen by
them

MORAL Rights of Authors/Creators


a. Right of Paternity
 Authorship of the works
 The right that his name be indicated on the copies
b. Right to Change/Withhold Publication
c. Right of Integrity against Derogatory Treatment
 To object to any distortion, mutilation or modification, or other derogatory action to his work
which would be prejudicial to his honor or reputation
d. Right against False Attribution
 To restrain the use of his name with respect to any work not of his own creation or in a distorted
version of his work

Note:
 Duration  lifetime + 50 yrs
o Paternity  perpetual
 Moral rights are not assignable but may be waived
 NO Waiver:
o If the creator's name will be used to damage the reputation of another person
o If the creator's name will be used to give credit to something he or she did not make

Breach of Contract
 An author cannot be compelled to perform his contract to create a work or for the publication
of his work already in existence
 He may be held liable for damages for breach of such contract
Contribution to Collective Work
 When an author contributes to a collective work, his right to have his contribution attributed to
him is deemed waived unless he expressly reserves it

Editing, Arranging and Adaptation of Work


 In the absence of a contrary stipulation at the time an author licenses or permits another to use
his work, the necessary editing, arranging or adaptation of such work, for publication, broadcast,
use in a motion picture, dramatization, or mechanical or electrical reproduction shall not be
deemed to contravene the author's rights nor shall complete destruction of a work
unconditionally transferred by the author be deemed to violate such rights

Moral Rights
 Right to proceeds in subsequent Transfers of Copyright
 Sale or lease of work
o 5% of gross sales during lifetime + 50 yrs after death of author
o Not covered:
 Prints, etchings, engravings, works of applied art, works wherein author
primarily derives gain from the proceeds of reproductions

Rights of Publishers
a) Right to publish granted by the author, his heirs, or assigns
b) Right of reproduction of the typographical arrangement of the published edition of the work
c) If submitted to newspaper/magazine, the right to publish once materials sent by a writer, a
photographer, an artist to a periodical or newspaper publisher, but such writer or artist retains his
copyright on the piece

Transfer or Assignment of Copyright


 Assignment/License must be in writing
 Exclusive license of economic rights
 Right to regular statements of account
 Transfer of material object does not include transfer of copyright and vice versa
 Designation of Society to collectively manage economic or moral rights on behalf of artists,
writers, composers, etc.

Acts that Do Not Infringe Copyright


a) Recitation or performance of a published work: (i) done privately (ii) free of charge (iii) for a charitable
or religious institution
b) Making of quotations from a published work compatible with fair use
c) Mass media reporting of articles on current political, social, economic, scientific or religious topic,
lectures, addresses and other works delivered in public for information purposes which has not been
expressly reserved
d) Current event reporting by means of photography, cinematography or broadcasting to the extent
necessary for the purpose
 Source and name of author must be indicated
e) Inclusion of a work in a publication, broadcast, or other communication to the public, sound recording
or film if made by way of illustration for teaching purposes compatible with fair use and source and
name of the author, appearing on work, must be mentioned
f) Recoding made in schools, universities, or educational institutions of a work included in a broadcast
for the use of such schools, universities or educational institutions. Such recording must be deleted
within a reasonable period; such recording may not be made from audio-visual works which are part of
the general cinema repertoire feature films except for brief excerpts of the work
g) Making of ephemeral recordings (i) by a broadcasting organization, (ii) by means of its own facilities,
(iii) for use in its own broadcast
h) Use by Government/National Library/educational, scientific or professional institutions for public
interest
i) Free Public performance where no admission fee is charged by a club or institution for charitable or
educational purpose only and the aim is not profit-making
j) Public display of the published original or copy of the work not made by means of films, slide,
television image or otherwise on screen or by means of any other device or process not otherwise
assigned or licensed
k) Any use made of a work for the purpose of any judicial proceedings, or for the giving of professional
advice by a legal practitioner;
l) Reproduction or distribution of published work in a specialized format for use of the blind/visually and
reading impaired persons
m) Reconstruction/rehabilitation of building covered by copyright in a work of architecture
n) Single copy reproduction of a published work by natural person exclusively for research and private
study (Sec. 187)
o) Reproduction by libraries of (i) fragile works, (ii) isolated articles in composite works, (iii) brief
portions of published work, (iv) to preserve or replace copy (Sec. 188)
p) One back-up copy of computer program.(Sec. 189)

Fair Use of a Copyrighted Work. – (Sec 185)


criticism
comment
news reporting
teaching
scholarship
research
Decompilation - the reproduction of the code and translation of the forms of a computer
program to achieve the interoperability of an independently created computer program with other
programs

In determining Fair Use of a Copyrighted Work. – (Sec 185)


Factors to be considered:
(a) The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for
non-profit education purposes;
(b) The nature of the copyrighted work;
(c) The amount or portion of the copyrighted work being classified as fair use
(d) The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
Unpublished work may qualify for fair use

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