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| Pirate DVDs with quality stickers indicating that this is not a cinema recording, by by miskan on flickr.com: http://flickr.com/photos/miskan/32664810/ |
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Not many of us in law school would deny owning a copy or two of pirated media, be it a VCD, DVD, or a song downloaded from Limewire or BitTorrent. In a survey conducted among 100 law students, 44 responded in the affirmative when asked if it’s the cheap price alone that motivates them to patronise piracy. Other factors include the competitive quality of pirated discs, availability, and that they’re easily returnable in case of defect.
In the same survey, 60 respondents claim that even if the retail price of pirated products are totally eradicated, they would rather resort to other means of obtaining copies such as peer-to-peer file sharing instead of buying the originals.
We’re Being Watched
Every year the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) conducts a review of countries included in its Priority Watch List, among which is the Philippines. The IIPA is a private sector coalition formed in 1984 to represent U.S. copyright-based industries. It works closely with the U.S. Trade Representative in the annual Special 301 reviews and examination of trade conditions.
According to IIPA’s 2006 Special 301 Report, released early this year, copyright piracy in the Philippines has caused estimated losses to U.S. copyright industries in the amount of $123.6 million in 2005. These industries include motion pictures, records and music, business and entertainment software, and books.
Continued inclusion in the watch list puts Philippine trade privileges at risk. The Philippines currently enjoys the benefits of the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, which offers duty-free imports of Philippine products into the U.S. In 2003, $894.7 million worth of Philippine products entered the U.S. duty-free. In 2004, at least $890.5 million worth of products were exported under the same exemption. This favorable condition might be removed if the Philippines fails to meet the discretionary criteria of U.S. law, one of which is the adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights.
What is piracy?
Piracy is an infringement of intellectual property rights (IPR), which is defined as rights that “allow people to own their creativity and innovation in the same way they can own physical property. The owner of intellectual property (IP) can control and be rewarded for its use, and this encourages further innovation and creativity to the benefit of us all.”
In our country, the law in place is the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (Republic Act No. 8293), which generally protects copyright, trademarks, and patents.
Copyright is often attributed to artistic and literary works such as films, music, books, photos, drawings, broadcasts, software, and multimedia. It exists from the moment of creation of the work, which must be both original and recorded in some tangible medium. Although registration is required for trademarks and patents, no formalities are needed in order for copyright to exist.
Increased Supply of Pirated Products
Imports of pirated optical discs from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan have dramatically increased since 2004. This upsurge in supply has led to the lowering of prices of pirated products so as to ruin the legitimate market. Pirated VCD’s and DVD’s now sell for a measly P25 to P70, vis-ŕ-vis the originals which sell for P100 to P700. Legitimate video and music retail stores have to compete with the black market by lowering their prices, eventually incurring losses that lead them to close shop.
Not only are pirated products imported, they are also produced locally. Book piracy, for example, is prevalent. This includes illegal photocopying, pirate offset printing, and books burned on CD’s. On the other hand, the increased availability of broadband Internet has also increased illegal downloads, distribution of burned CD’s and DVD’s, and unauthorised exploitation of popular entertainment software titles.
In terms of optical disc production, the IIPA suspects the existence of at least 16 optical disc factories and 38 operation lines in the country, with an estimated overall production capacity of 133 million discs per year. It also believes that “covert production facilities, often protected by law enforcement and local government officials, remain in existence both in remote areas of Luzon and within the major cities…. One of the main pirates ‘burning’ content onto CD-R’s operates just one floor above the residence of the director of the NBI.”
State of Copyright Enforcement
Despite the issuance of the implementing rules and regulations of the Optical Media Act and the establishment of the Optical Media Board (OMB) headed by Edu Manzano, much remains to be desired in the state of copyright enforcement. OMB continues to conduct raids to stop pirate production, distribution, and retail activities, much like its predecessor, the Videogram Regulatory Board (VRB), has done. However, the IIPA laments that these raids are “largely non-deterrent, as stores closed due to raids often reopened the following day.” While the OMB carried out the largest bust in a Quiapo mall in December 2004 resulting in the seizure of over US$8 million (with a street value of P476.25 million) worth of pirated products, “these statistics also indicate the massive scope of the piracy problem.”
Exacerbating the poor state of enforcement is the lack of IP expertise among the regional prosecutors and the judges of the “Special Commercial Courts.” To remedy this situation, these courts will soon be replaced by special IP courts that will handle intellectual property-related cases only, as per the Supreme Court en banc resolution dated July 26, 2005. The resolution was based on the proposal of IPO Director General Adrian Cristobal Jr.
As of March 2005, 1,184 IP cases were pending, 993 of which is in Manila.
Moreover, the role of the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in IP enforcement has been unclear. In 2001 the IPO was moved from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to the Office of the President, where it can coordinate with the Philippine National Police and Bureau of Investigation. In 2004 it was moved back to the DTI. This move seems to have no effect.
Pending bills in Congress aim to amend the IP Code in order to implement the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties (WIPO Copyright Treaty and WIPO Performance and Phonograms Treaty) fully, and pass cybercrime legislation covering all copyrighted materials.
Attitude Shift
In an interview published in Fudge (August 2005), Christopher Sy, Managing Director of EMI Music Philippines and Anti-Piracy Chairman of the Philippine Association of Recording Industry (PARI) observed that, “People don’t download music because they are poor. Rich people do it as well. It’s just because they can get something for less money. Plus they don’t see it as something… major. ‘It doesn’t seem so bad. Who am I hurting?’ The real challenge in piracy is more of an attitude shift. People know piracy is bad but people do it. It’s like smoking…”
Annie Alejo, editor-in-chief of Fudge, writes, “With every click of that download button or a P75 transaction, we help in the proliferation of illegal digital music downloads and pirated audio/video discs – an activity that affects numerous faceless individuals. Who are we hurting, you ask? No one, you assure yourself, until it’s someone you know.”
Sy goes on to express, “It’s not just taking money out of, say, Martin Nievera’s pocket… At the same time, it’s Mr. Warehouse that loses his job. It’s Mr. Accountant, Mr. Label Manager, Ms. Marketing Assistant, all the way to the Managing Directors…. [B]ecause fans love a certain band, they have an affinity with the artist. ‘When I buy the album, tatagal sila sa eksena… and ako ang masaya sa huli. I want them to create more music… ”
With excerpts from the International Intellectual Property Alliance 2006 Special 301 Report and Ms. Annie S. Alejo of Fudge Magazine
tags: makati philippines education piracy philippines
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