1997 DEVELOPMENTS IN PHILIPPINE CoPYRIGHT LAw
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DEVELOPMENTS IN PHILIPPINE
COPYRIGHT LAW
CHRISTOPHER L LIM*
I. HISTORY OF PHILIPPINE COPYRIGHT LAWS
Th~.ppanish Law on Intellectual Property of January 10, 1879 which was extended
to the Philippines by the Royal Decree of May 5, 1887 was the first known copyright
law in the ~;:ountry. When Spaii> ceded the Philippines to th~ United States of America
under the Treaty of Paris of December 10, 1898, the U.S. Copyright Law became the
applicable law.
;
On March 6, 1924, the Philippine Legislature enacted the country's very own
copyright law, Act No. 3134 entitled, "An Act to Protect Intellectual Property." The Act
was based on the U.S. Copyright Law of 1909.
On August 1, 1951, the Philippines acceded to the Berne Convention for the
Protection of Literary and Artistic Works as revised in Brussels in 1948 and adopted
the national treatmenrprind.ple•..
On December 15, 1972, Presidential Decree No. 49, the "Decree on Intellectual
Property" took effect. The Decree was issued by Ferdinand Marcos in accordance with
the legislative powers he enjoyed as President during the Martial Law regime.
Presidential Decree No. 49 is the current copyright law.
A. US-RP Excft!lngeo[Notes
On April6, 1993, the Philippine and U.S. Governments entered into an Exchange
of Notes as a result of extensive consultations between the two governments regarding
the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in the Philippines.
Under the Note, the Philippine Government committed itself to provide adequate
and effective protection to intellectucJ property. In tum, the U.S. removed the Philippines
from the "special301" priority watch list which would have otherwise subjected the
country to U.S. trade retaliatory sanctions.
In the area of copyright and neighboring rights, the Philippine Government
committed to undertake the following:
• LL.B., Areneo de Manila Universi:y School of Law; Articles Editor (1982-83), Aleneo Law Journal.
The author is a professorial lecturer in Intellectual Property Law at the Ateneo de Manila University
School of Law. He is a partner in Quisumbing, Torres, and Evangelista Law Offices.
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1. The formulation of rules and regulations to bring them into conformity
with the Paris Act of the Berne Convention on the Protection of Literary
and Artistic works. The amendments would include the repeal of the
Textbook Reprint Law which allows local publi~hers to s~ek repr~nt
licenses directly from the Philippine Government Without ha vmg to ~otify
the foreign copyright owner. Included among the books bemg reprmted
under the Textbook Reprint Law are computer manuals.
2. The increase in the term of protection of phonogram to a term of at least 50
years from the date of first fixation or publication;
3. The abolishment of registration and deposit requirements for sound
recordings;
4. The narrowing of the scope of the private use exemptions currently found
in the Copyright Law to certain special cases which do not conflict with
a normal exploitation of the work and do not unreasonably prejudice the
legitimate interests of the right holder;
5. The grant of an exclusive right for authors of computer programs and
their successors-in-interest to authorize or prohibit the rental to the public,
for the purpose of direct or indirect commercial advantage, of originals or
copies of their works;
6. The making of an express statement that computer programs are protected
as literary works;
7. The addressing of the situation of cable TV operators that infringe
copyright through the unauthorized retransmission of copyrighted works.
Under the Note, the Govenunent reiterated its commitment to ensure the effective
enforcement of intellectual property rights by hav:i.tg taken, or by taking, the following steps:
1. The establishment of an Inter-Agency Oversight Committee on Intellectual
Property Rights which will be the recommending, coordinating,
enforcement oversight and program implementation body for intellectua~
property rights. The Committee was established on February 26, 1993.
2. The creation on August 25, 1992 of a Department of Justice Special Task
Force to handle the inquest and prosecution of piracy and counterfeiting
cases;
3. The submission of amendments to each of the relevant laws increasing
the available penalties in criminal infringement cases. The maximum
period of imprisonment will be increased from a period of six months to
one year to a maximum of at least three years. The minimum fine will be
established to reflect the seriousness of the infringement.