Groups demand enactment of IP rights protection law

As the world celebrated Intellectual Property (IP) Day on Tuesday, April 26, several groups stressed the need for the Philippines to pass legislation that will penalize digital piracy.

Solar Entertainment Corporation chief Wilson Tieng said in a speech read by his legal counsel that the Philippines lacks specific legislation criminalizing online piracy.

The Philippines currently has two laws on digital piracy: Republic Act 8289, or the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines; and Republic Act 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

However, Tieng argued that the only time piracy is penalized is when provisions of the two separate laws are applied in connection with each other.

“It would be simpler and more effective if one specific law were passed solely to define and penalize online piracy and provide procedures to prosecute the same. This will make it easier for law enforcement authorities to apply the law and go after online pirates,” Tieng said.

House Bill 6187 or the proposed Anti-Online Piracy Act was filed in 2012 but has yet to be enacted. 

Moreover, Tieng said the indifference of government authorities to the protection of IP rights fosters digital piracy.

“This is due to the fact that, for some people, intellectual property is simply not as important as other kinds of property. Law enforcement authorities do not understand the value of intellectual property and regard online piracy as a lesser crime or worse, a victimless crime,” Tieng said.

IP Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) Director General Josephine Santiago pointed out that his agency can only act if someone files a complaint.

“When we see a violation around us, our hands our tied because intellectual property rights are private rights. Because these are private rights, we need to have a complainant, that is what the nature of intellectual property is,” Santiago said.

She shared that since 2011, only 15 digital piracy convictions were made.

“In five years, we just had 15 convictions. You would agree that there should be more than that. Unfortunately we are powerless to really put all the violators in jail,” she said.

“The rights holder has the most important role to pursue the case in court...So if the complainant does not complain, even if you see the violation, it cannot pushed through,” she added.

Tieng also said the Philippines ranks high in terms of online piracy.

“The Philippine ranks 18th worldwide in the volume of unauthorized sharing, 10th in the number of Bit Torrent downloads. As a result, it is estimated that 70 percent of film distribution in the country is controlled by pirates,” Tieng noted.

According to a joint statement by the IPOPHL, the Motion Picture Association (MPA), and the Department of Science and Technology Information and Communications Technology Office (DOST-ICTO), close to 200 million pirated movies and TV shows in the Philippines were estimated to be shared on P2P networks in 2015.

Mon Ibrahim of the DOST-ICTO echoed Tieng’s statement, saying piracy has become a monster that has transformed through time.

“Piracy is actually a monster that has been there for quite some time. What you see physically done has actually morphed into something else, it is digitally done. The level of digital piracy is uncomfortably high in the Philippines,” Ibrahim said.

He underscored the need to address the situation so as to make the country a safe place to do business in.

“We cannot expect to become a leading digital economy unless we are able to reduce online piracy to insignificant levels,” Ibrahim said.

Meanwhile, Santiago said the way to reduce online piracy is to have a paradigm shift through education.

“Education here is not limited to just teaching Intellectual Property Rights in Law school. We have to really start education and awareness even down in the elementary level. I see the dire need to teach people,” she said.

She stressed the importance of starting digital piracy awareness in families.

“I want to center our awareness drive to the families because that is where values begin,” Santiago said.

On the other hand, Tieng said there is a need to combine efforts from the government, entertainment industry and the public.

“It takes initiative, coordination, and sustained efforts of all  to eradicate piracy,” he said.

Video making contest

In coordination with the Motion Picture Association, United States Embassy, and the Korean Copyright Commission, the IPOPHL also launched on Tuesday the Rise for Against Movie Piracy (RAMP), a video-making contest on preventing online piracy in the Philippines.

The contest is open for students currently enrolled in film schools nationwide. Those who are willing to join must be at least 18 years old. The lucky winner will go to Los Angeles, California, in November for an immersion program.

Santiago said the contest seeks to encourage youth to support films by watching theatrical release and refraining from pirated media such as torrents or peer-to-peer sites.

“The respect of the intellectual property rights of creators and producers of films and movies is important and should be inculcated in the minds of the youth who are not only moviegoers but are also the future artists, creators, and filmmakers of the country,” she said.

In not more than 60 seconds long, the video must depict the dangers of illegally downloading copyrighted content and why respect for intellectual property rights is needed.

Participants may employ any technique for their entry, may it be live-action, CGI, animated, stop-motion, and documentary among others. Entries could also be in any genre as well.

The grand winner will receive an all-expense paid trip to Los Angeles, California for a one-week Film Immersion Program to be attended by renowned filmmakers.

The deadline of entries is on August 06, 2016. For more information, you can visit the RAMP page on Facebook. — TJD, GMA News