WHAT IS COPYRIGHT?

Copyright is the legal protection extended to the owner of the rights in an original work.

“Original work” refers to every production in the literary, scientific and artistic domain. Among the liter
and artistic works enumerated in the IP Code includes books and other writings, musical works, films
paintings and other works, and computer programs.

Works are protected by the sole fact of their creation, irrespective of their mode or form of expression
well as their content, quality and purpose. Thus, it does not matter if, in the eyes of some critics, a
certain work has little artistic value. So long as it has been independently created and has a minimum
creativity, the same enjoys copyright protection.

WHAT ARE THE WORKS COVERED BY COPYRIGHT PROTECTION UNDER THE INTELLECTUA
PROPERTY CODE?

Section 172 of the IP Code lists the works covered by copyright protection from the moment of their
creation, namely:

1. (a) Books, pamphlets, articles and other writings

2. (b) Periodicals and newspapers
3. (c) Lectures, sermons, addresses, dissertations prepared for oral delivery, whether or not reduced
writing or other material form
4. (d) Letters
5. (e) Dramatic or dramatico-musical compositions; choreographic works or entertainment in dumb
shows
6. (f) Musical compositions, with or without words
7. (g) Works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving, lithography or other work of art;
models or designs for works of art
8. (h) Original ornamental designs or models for articles of manufacture, whether or not registrable a
an industrial design, and other works of applied art
9. (i) Illustrations, maps, plans, sketches, charts and three-dimensional works relative to geography,
topography, architecture or science
10. (j) Drawings or plastic works of a scientific or technical character
11. (k) Photographic works including works produced by a process analogous to photography; lantern
slides
12. (l) Audiovisual works and cinematographic works and works produced by a process analogous to
cinematography or any process for making audio-visual recordings
13. (m) Pictorial illustrations and advertisements
14. (n) Computer programs
15. (o) Other literary, scholarly, scientific and artistic works.
WHAT ARE THE TWO TYPES OF RIGHTS UNDER COPYRIGHT?

There are two types of rights under copyright: (1) economic rights, so-called because they enable
creator to obtain remuneration from the exploitation of his works by third parties, and (2) moral righ
which makes it possible for the creator to undertake measures to maintain and protect the persona
connection between himself and the work.
Economic rights include:
Reproduction
Transformation First public distribution
Rental
Public display
Public performance
Other communication to the public of the work.
Moral rights include:
Right of Attribution
Right of Alteration
Right of Integrity (object to any prejudicial distortion)
Right to restrain use of his name.
Exception to the moral rights
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. A collective work is
work which has been created by two (2) or more natural persons at the initiative and un
the direction of another with the understanding that it will be disclosed by the latter und
his own name and that contributing natural persons will not be identified.
In the absence of a contrary stipulation at the time an author licenses or permits anothe
use his work, the necessary editing, arranging or adaptation of such work, for publicatio
broadcast, use in a motion picture, dramatization, or mechanical or electrical reproduct
in accordance with the reasonable and customary standards or requirements of the
medium in which the work is to be used, shall not be deemed to contravene the author
rights secured by this chapter. Nor shall complete destruction of a work unconditionally
transferred by the author be deemed to violate such rights.
Resale right: In every sale or lease of an original work of painting or sculpture or of the original
manuscript of a writer or composer, subsequent to the first disposition thereof by the author, the
author or his heirs shall have an inalienable right to participate in the gross proceeds of the sale
lease to the extent of five percent (5%). This right shall exist during the lifetime of the author an
for fifty (50) years after his death.

Related rights

Authors create works to disseminate them to as large an audience as possible. Obviously, they
cannot do the dissemination by themselves. They need the help of persons or entities who contrib
substantial creative, technical or organizational skill in the process of making the works available t
 Hence, their rights are referred to as “related rights” or “neighboring rights” since they are related t
are neighboring on the author’s copyright.
Thus, we have the related rights of: (a) performers; (b) producers of sound recordings; and (c)
broadcasting organizations.

Copyright ownership

Generally, the natural person who created the literary and artistic work owns the copyright to the
same.
For work created during or in the course of employment (works for hire):
Employee - if the work is not part of his regular duties, even if he used the time, facilities and
materials of the employer;
Employer - if the work is the result of the performance of his regularly assigned duties, unless th
is an express or implied agreement to the contrary.
For commissioned works: the person who commissioned the work owns the work but the copyrigh
thereto remains with the creator, unless there is a written agreement to the contrary.
For audiovisual works: the producer, the author of the scenario, the composer of the music, the film
director, and the author of the work so adapted.

WHAT IS THE TERM OF PROTECTION OF COPYRIGHT?

In general, the term of protection of copyright for original and derivative works is the life of the auth
plus fifty (50) years after his death. The Code specifies the terms of protection for the different type
of works.
In calculating the term of protection, the term of protection subsequent to the death of the author s
run from the date of his death or of publication, but such terms shall always be deemed to begin o
the first day of January of the year following the event which gave rise to them (i.e. death, publicat
making).

WHAT ARE THE LIMITATIONS ON COPYRIGHT AND FAIR USE?

Copyright protection is not intended to give the copyright owner absolute control over all possible
exploitation of his work. The law provides for limitations (“statutory fair uses”) on the economic righ
of authors comprising of acts which do not constitute copyright infringement even if done without t
consent of the copyright holder, such as:
The recitation or performance of a work, once it has been lawfully made accessible to the publi
done privately and free of charge or if made strictly for a charitable or religious institution or
society; (Sec. 10(1), P.D. No.49)
The making of quotations from a published work if they are compatible with fair use and only to
extent justified for the purpose, including quotations from newspaper articles and periodicals in
form of press summaries: Provided, That the source and the name of the author, if appearing o
 The reproduction or communication to the public by mass media of articles on current political,
social, economic, scientific or religious topic, lectures, addresses and other works of the same
nature, which are delivered in public if such use is for information purposes and has not been
expressly reserved: Provided, That the source is clearly indicated;
The reproduction and communication to the public of literary, scientific or artistic works as part o
reports of current events by means of photography, cinematography or broadcasting to the exte
necessary for the purpose;
The inclusion of a work in a publication, broadcast, or other communication to the public, sound
recording or film, if such inclusion is made by way of illustration for teaching purposes and is
compatible with fair use: Provided, That the source and of the name of the author, if appearing
the work, are mentioned;
The recording made in schools, universities, or educational institutions of a work included in a
broadcast for the use of such schools, universities or educational institutions: Provided, That su
recording must be deleted within a reasonable period after they were first broadcast: Provided,
further, That such recording may not be made from audiovisual works which are part of the gen
cinema repertoire of feature films except for brief excerpts of the work;
The making of ephemeral recordings by a broadcasting organization by means of its own facilit
and for use in its own broadcast;
The use made of a work by or under the direction or control of the Government, by the Nationa
Library or by educational, scientific or professional institutions where such use is in the public
interest and is compatible with fair use;
The public performance or the communication to the public of a work, in a place where no
admission fee is charged in respect of such public performance or communication, by a club or
institution for charitable or educational purpose only, whose aim is not profit making, subject to
such other limitations as may be provided in the Regulations;
Public display of the original or a copy of the work not made by means of a film, slide, television
image or otherwise on screen or by means of any other device or process: Provided, That eithe
the work has been published, or, that original or the copy displayed has been sold, given away
otherwise transferred to another person by the author or his successor in title; and
Any use made of a work for the purpose of any judicial proceedings or for the giving of professi
advice by a legal practitioner.
These limitations, however, should be interpreted in such a way as to allow the work to be used in
manner which does not conflict with the normal exploitation of the work and does not unreasonabl
prejudice the right holder’s legitimate interest.
The fair use of a copyrighted work for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching including multi
copies for classroom use, scholarship, research, and similar purposes are not an infringement of
copyright. Decompilation, which is understood here to be the reproduction of the code and transla
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, the factors to be
considered shall include:
The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or
 The nature of the copyrighted work;
The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
and
The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
Aside from the provisions on the limitations on copyright and on fair use, the law allows the followi
reproductions:
the private reproduction of a published work in a single copy, where the reproduction is made by a
natural person exclusively for research and private study, shall be permitted, without the authoriza
of the owner of copyright in the work.
any library or archive whose activities are not for profit may, without the authorization of the author
copyright owner, make a single copy of the work by reprographic reproduction:
1. (a) Where the work by reason of its fragile character or rarity cannot be lent to user in its origina
form;
2. (b) Where the works are isolated articles contained in composite works or brief portions of othe
published works and the reproduction is necessary to supply them; when this is considered
expedient, to person requesting their loan for purposes of research or study instead of lending t
volumes or booklets which contain them; and
3. (c) Where the making of such a copy is in order to preserve and, if necessary in the event that i
lost, destroyed or rendered unusable, replace a copy, or to replace, in the permanent collection
another similar library or archive, a copy which has been lost, destroyed or rendered unusable
copies are not available with the publisher.
the reproduction in one (1) back-up copy or adaptation of a computer program shall be permitted,
without the authorization of the author of, or other owner of copyright in, a computer program, by t
lawful owner of that computer program: Provided, That the copy or adaptation is necessary for:
1. (a) The use of the computer program in conjunction with a computer for the purpose, and to the
extent, for which the computer program has been obtained; and
2. (b) Archival purposes, and, for the replacement of the lawfully owned copy of the computer
program in the event that the lawfully obtained copy of the computer program is lost, destroyed
rendered unusable.

WHAT CONSTITUTES INFRINGEMENT?

Under the IP Code

Copyright infringement consists in infringing any right secured or protected under the Code. It m
also consist in aiding or abetting such infringement. The law also provides for the liability of a
person who at the time when copyright subsists in a work has in his possession an article which
knows, or ought to know, to be an infringing copy of the work for the purpose of:
Selling or letting for hire, or by way of trade offering or exposing for sale or hire, the article;
Distributing the article for the purpose of trade, or for any other purpose to an extent that will
prejudice the rights of the copyright owner in the work; or
Trade exhibit of the article in public.
The owner of the copyright may file an application for a certificate of registration and deposit of co
or reproduction of the works or works personally or via registered mail with the Copyright Division
the National Library and the Supreme Court Library. The application must contain the following:
1. A duly accomplished form in duplicate for each work, provided, that a separate application is
submitted for each number of a periodical containing a notice of copyright.
2. A support document evidencing ownership of the copyright, the manner of its acquisition if the
claimant is not the original author translator, or editor, and where and in what establishment the
work was made, performed, printed, or produced, and the date of its completion and publication
3. Receipt showing payment of the registration fee if the application is filed personally, or by posta
money order if the application is filed by registered mail.
4. Documentary stamps in the correct amount, which shall be affixed to the registration and depos
certificate.
5. Two (2) complete copies or reproduction of the work or replica or picture
6. Two (2) printed copies with the copyright notice printed in front or at the back of the title page o
any conspicuous space for a non-book material, if the work is a published work.
7. If the work is in a musical work, two (2) copies of the original work, in the form of a music sheet
cassette, optical disk, or multimedia.
8. A technical description of the design, if the work is an original ornamental design.
9. Two (2) duplicate originals or certified true copies of the deed of assignment.