Copyright piracy rose in RP, US lobby group says

MANILA, Philippines - Intellectual property theft in the Philippines has grown a lot worse, with copyright owners claiming $222 million in losses — a 25 percent increase — as software and record “pirates" have expanded their market share, according to a Washington business lobby. A report by the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) put the Philippines in the same league as China, Russia, and India in terms of copyright violations, and blamed authorities for being too slow in sending pirates to jail. Another US-based group, the International Anticounterfeiting Coalition (IACC), also said copyright cases have been languishing in Philippine courts, while Hong Kong cable and satellite firms said losses have risen by a tenth to $95 million as illegal operators continue to steal signals. Reports were submitted last week to the US government prior to its annual listing of countries known for piracy. The IIPA and the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) recommended the Philippines be returned to a “priority watch list" while the IACC said the country should stay on the ordinary watch list. Washington has the option of imposing sanctions on copyright violators, such as removing sought-after duty-free export privileges. In reaction, two local offices in-charge of the anti-piracy campaign, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IP Philippines) and the Optical Media Board (OMB), said copyright laws were being enforced through raids and confiscations, and that judges would be trained to handle intellectual property cases. IP Philippines Director-General Adrian J. Cristobal, Jr. said in an e-mail that last year’s inter-agency campaign had resulted in the seizure of faked goods valued at P3.5 billion, up by 17.87 percent from the previous year. Von Lee Alfabeto, spokesman for the Optical Media Board, also said “2007 and 2008 seizures were at an all-time high." In its report, the IIPA said the Philippines had again emerged as a “net exporter" of pirated goods and that local production “makes up an estimated 40-50 percent of hard goods found in the domestic market." The Philippines was also said to be notorious for illegal video recording in cinemas — last year, movies like Rambo, Jumper, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom in the Crystal Skull were found on the Internet before showing in US moviehouses. There were no estimates of losses from movie producers, but the group claimed that pirates control 90 percent of the P6-billion video sales industry. Copies made illegally in the country have been found in 13 countries, the IIPA said. Software firms lost $105 million to pirates in the Philippines last year, up by a fifth, the IIPA said. It found that 70 percent of software available in the market was illegally sourced, slightly worse than 69 percent in 2007. “The [software] piracy rate remained high compared to the regional median for Asia of 66 percent in 2008," the IIPA report read. Record companies, meanwhile, claimed to have lost $117 million last year as 83 percent of music in the market came from illegal sources. In 2007, losses reached $88.3 million, with pirated records accounting for 80 percent of the local market, IIPA estimates showed. Illegal downloading of records and software as well as books and motion pictures over the Internet grew in 2008, the IIPA said without elaborating. The group also cited the rampant sale of music tracks along with karaoke machines, particularly in Manila’s Quiapo district. Data from book publishers were unavailable, but the IIPA vendors around universities continue to sell photocopied or computer versions of books to students. The IIPA also complained about the “complete systemic failure of courts" to decide on piracy cases, adding that copyright matters are delayed by the bureaucracy and weak government assistance in obtaining evidence. The group called for the establishment of an IP court to focus on such cases. The IACC echoed this, saying in its report: “Members of the Coalition reported significant deficiencies in IPR enforcement in 2008, citing in particular the lack of deterrent penalties, and failure of federal law enforcement to take significant action against counterfeiters and pirates in well-known retail markets." The group also claimed there were “inconsistent and contradictory rulings by courts." Mr. Cristobal said that the Supreme Court was reviewing rules on how to proceed with intellectual property cases. His agency and the Philippine Judicial Academy have also committed creating a training program for judges and court personnel on IP principles. “In November 2008 ... [the chief justice] expressed willingness to create a special IP court on a pilot basis," Mr. Cristobal said. The Bureau of Customs, he added, created a permanent intellectual property division last year to bolster anti-piracy efforts. Asked to comment on the groups’ claims of delayed trials, Mr. Cristobal said: “Lobby groups will never be satisfied." Mr. Alfabeto, meanwhile, said that the OMB was able to conduct searches even without a warrant. But he agreed with the lobby groups that funding for anti-piracy agencies needed to be increased. “We still need funding because we cover the whole country. Our manpower resources are very meager," he said. - Jessica Anne D. Hermosa, BusinessWorld