IPOPHL calls for strong copyright management in view of ASEAN integration

The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) on Friday said there is a need to establish a strong copyright management approach, particularly now that the 2015 ASEAN single market is drawing closer.

 

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) integration coming into force next year is one of the reasons why the IPOPHL is developing initiatives "to strengthen the copyright protection and awareness campaigns in the country," the Department of Trade and Industry said.

 

Citing a 2006 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) study on copyright industries, the department said the Philippine copyright-based industries contribute 4.92 percent to the gross domestic product and 11.1 percent to national employment. The industry includes the press and literature, movies, radio and television, and music.

 

Last April, the United States has removed the Philippines from its blacklist of countries which do not properly protect US copyrights and patents, Reuters reported, citing a statement from the US Trade Representative.

 

"The Philippines had introduced laws to better protect intellectual property rights and also beefed up enforcement," according the report which quoted a USTR statement.

 

In the recent "Copy and Repro" conference during 35th Manila International Book Fair, IPOPHL director-general Ricardo Blancaflor said his office and the National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights (NCIPR), were primarily responsible for USTR move that deleted the Philippines from its Watch List after 20 years.

 

The Philippines was first placed in the list in 1989 and was even considered to be having the potential of becoming a center of pirated optical media production in Asia in 2001, he added. – Raffy Cabristante/VS, GMA News