Pedregosa, Jesan Jean R.

BSPH2D

Mr. Rody is a chemistry professor who created a laboratory activity for his students. The
school allowed him to sell his manual to the students under his class. Kim, Mr. Rody’s student,
purchased the manual. She reproduced the manual and sold it to her classmates at a lower price
because she thinks that the actual price is unreasonable.
Meanwhile, Mr. Coco, a part time faculty member, saw the manual and took a picture of
it. He reproduced the manual and changed the author under his name and sold it to his students
from the other school
Kim and Mr.Coco’s actions were exposed. Mr.Rody failed Kim on his subject while he
humiliated Mr.Coco in social media. He posted Mr.Coco’s picture together with his personal
sensitive information and tagged him as a thief.
Xi, Kim’s boyfriend and IT personnel of the school, knew the incident. Blinded by his
love, he illegally accessed the registrar system and altered Kim’s grade.

In the situation presented, some of the characters have some form of violation of the
Intellectual Property Code and the Cybercrime Law. First, Kim bought the manual but then sold
it at a lower price. By doing so, she has committed copyright infringement and a violation of the
Fair Use policy as stated in Sec. 185 of RA 8293, which states, “The fair use of a copyrighted
work for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching including multiple copies for classroom
use, scholarship, research, and similar purposes is not an infringement of copyright. xxx”
The law also outlined several factors to consider in determining whether copyrighted work may
be considered as fair use, which are: (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 and substantiality of the portion used in relation
to the copyrighted work as a whole;(d)“the effect of the use upon the potential market for or
value of the copyrighted work.”which means that although she bought the manual legally and for
educative purposes, but by reproducing and selling it to her classmates without the permission of
Mr.Rody, she violated the Fair Use policy and damaged the economic market as the author will
never receive profits from his work. Kim could pay for legal damages.

Secondly, in Mr.Coco’s case, he reproduced and changed the author under his name.
These actions fall under copyright infringement and plagiarism as he did not ask permission to
reproduce Mr.Rody’s work. It also falls under Article 308 of the Revised Penal Code in

which“Article 308. Who are liable for theft: Theft is committed by any person who, with intent to
gain but without violence against, or intimidation of persons nor force upon things, shall take
personal property of another without the latter’s consent.”

In Xi’s case, because he illegally accessed the registrar system and altered Kim’s grades,
he is subject to [ Republic Act No. 10175 ] Chapter II Sec 4(a)(1) “Illegal Access. – The access
to the whole or any part of a computer system without right.” and [ Republic Act No. 10175 ]
Chapter II Sec 4(b)(1) “Computer-related Forgery.
(i) The input, alteration, or deletion of any computer data without right resulting in
inauthentic data with the intent that it be considered or acted upon for legal purposes as if it
were authentic, regardless whether or not the data is directly readable and intelligible”. This is
punishable by imprisonment and a fine of at least PhP200,000.00 up to a maximum amount
commensurate to the damage incurred or both under Chapter III Sec 8 of the [ Republic Act No.
10175 ].
Lastly, Mr.Rody also committed serious offenses. By posting sensitive information of
Mr.Coco, he is liable to receive legal punishments under the [REPUBLIC ACT NO. 10173]
Chapter VIII Sec 31 “Malicious Disclosure. – Any personal information controller or personal
information processor or any of its officials, employees or agents, who, with malice or in bad
faith, discloses unwarranted or false information relative to any personal information or
personal sensitive information obtained by him or her, shall be subject to imprisonment ranging
from one (1) year and six (6) months to five (5) years and a fine of not less than Five hundred
thousand pesos (Php500,000.00) but not more than One million pesos (Php1,000,000.00).”
Sources:
https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2012/09/12/republic-act-no-10175/
https://www.manilatimes.net/2016/01/13/legal-advice/dearpao/fair-use-of-copyrighted-work/239274/
https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2012/08/15/republic-act-no-10173/
https://www.chanrobles.com/legal7copyright.htm#.X2XJ7mgzbIV
https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/plagiarism-what-is-it-exactly#:~:text=Legal%20Ramifications%20of%20Plagiarism,federal
%20court%20for%20copyright%20violation.