Macapagal, Gladys, D.

2016400012 – 4S
Whether or not John Cage’s Creation is Copyrightable or not.

John Cage’s creation is not copyrightable. Notwithstanding, that our

law on copyright, particularly, Section 172.2, which provides that works are
protected by the sole fact of their creation, irrespective of their mode or
form of expression, as well as of their content, quality and purpose. In this
case, there was no expression of the intellectual property. It is blank. The
pianist was not doing anything on the video. In fact, there was no content at
all.
The law also provides the elements and the enumeration for which a
creation is considered to be copyrightable: Sec. 172.1 of the Intellectual
Property Code states that, literary and artistic works are original intellectual
creations in the literary and artistic domain protected from the moment of
their creation. The enumeration, among others, includes dramatic or
dramatico-musical compositions; choreographic works or entertainment in
dumb shows; Musical compositions, with or without words.
John Cage’s creation may be original but it does not fall under literary
or artistic domain. There was neither a musical composition because there
was no music at all, nor is there any choreography or entertainment, since
there was also no action.
To be copyrightable, the two elements must concur: It must be
original and it must be under the literary and artistic domain.