The present 15th Congress of the Philippines will introduce a number of legislative changes that are intended to increase the level of awareness in the country of intellectual property and enhance the IP system.

The present 15th Congress of the Philippines will introduce a number of legislative changes that are intended to increase the level of awareness in the country of intellectual property and enhance the IP system. Among these are:

• Requiring the teaching of IP in all primary, secondary and tertiary schools, and
• Expanding ‘fair use’ for specialised formats for the exclusive use of the blind or visually handicapped.

Teaching IP

Senate Bill (SB) No. 696, filed on July 7, 2010, mandates the teaching of IP ownership, particularly copyright law, as part of the curriculum of all primary, secondary and tertiary schools in the country. This move to introduce the importance of IP to Filipinos at an early age is designed to change people’s outlook and enable the country to become a knowledgebased centre.

The Philippines has not lacked IP laws. Section 13, Article XIV, of the 1987 Constitution provides that the state “shall protect and secure the exclusive rights of scientists, inventors, artists, and other gifted citizens to their intellectual property and creations, particularly when beneficial to the people, for such period as may be provided by law”.

Congress enacted into law on June 6, 1997 the IP Code of the Philippines, repealing the Patent Law of 1947, the Trademark Law of 1947 and the Copyright Law of 1972, among others.

Nevertheless, IP rights violations are still ubiquitous. It seems that the majority of the Philippine population is still not aware of the IP laws or has yet to fully grasp the concept of an IP right as a property right.

It is therefore important that IP be taught in schools.

To meet this objective, the IP Philippines, together with the Department of Education (DepEd) and the National Book Development Board (NBDB), embarked on developing modules for the teaching of IP, including preparing manuscripts for the IP Rights (IPR) Teacher’s Manual and IPR Student’s Guide, which would integrate the basic IP concepts into identified learning competencies, such as economics, social studies, science, research, music, arts and physical education.

Expanding ‘fair use’

SB No. 301, filed on July 6, 2010 grants exemptions from securing permission from publishers or copyright owners of printed materials to reproduce these in specialised formats for the exclusive use of the blind or visually handicapped, thereby amending the section on ‘fair use of copyrighted work’ of the IP Code.

Under the IP Code, fair use of copyrighted work includes use for:

• Criticism
• Comment
• News reporting
• Teaching, including multiple copies for classroom use
• Scholarship
• Research
• Similar purposes, and
• Decompilation.

Under SB No. 301, the reproduction or distribution of copies of published articles/materials in a specialised format exclusively for the use of the blind or visually impaired persons also constitutes fair use, provided that such copies and distribution are not for profit, and that the copyright owner and the date of the original publication are indicated. Specialised formats include Braille, audio, large print, digital text or other formats that enable the blind or visually impaired person to read the printed material.

The privilege, however, does not extend to standardized, secure or norm-referenced tests and related testing materials, or to computer programs, other than the portions that are conventional human language, including descriptions of pictorial works, and are displayed to users in the ordinary course of using the computer programs.

Considering the length of time required before print materials can be provided in a format that a visually impaired person can read, the proposed expansion of fair use, specifically beneficial to the blind or visually impaired persons, is intended to provide them with equal and timely access to copyrighted print materials, and thus improve their access to education, work and social integration.

These Senate-proposed changes to the IP laws, particularly directed to educating Filipinos and providing access to IP, could pave the way to greater changes in the future of IP in the country.

 

Anne Mariae Celeste V. Jumadla is an associate at Sapalo Velez Bundang & Bulilan. She can be contacted at: info@sapalovelez.com