The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Copyright 2016
The Philippine section of The International Comparative
Legal Guide to: Copyright 2016 was contributed by SyCipLaw partners Enrique T.
Manuel and Vida M. Panganiban-Alindogan. Mr. Manuel heads the firm’s
Intellectual Property department. The chapter includes information on copyright
subsistence, ownership, exploitation, owners’ rights, copyright enforcement,
criminal offenses, and current developments.
1.1 What are the requirements for copyright to subsist in a work?
Original intellectual creations in the literary and artistic domain are
protected under the provisions of the Intellectual Property Code of the
Philippines (IP Code).
1.2 On the presumption that copyright can arise in literary, artistic and
musical works, are there any other works in which copyright can subsist and are
there any works which are excluded from copyright protection?
Apart from literary, artistic and musical works, other works covered by
copyright include: architecture; computer programs; and advertisements, maps
and technical drawings.
No protection shall however extend, under the IP Code, to: any idea, procedure,
system method or operation, concept, principle, discovery or mere data as such,
even if they are expressed, explained, illustrated or embodied in a work; news
of the day and other miscellaneous facts having the character of mere items of
press information; or any official text of a legislative, administrative or legal
nature, as well as any official translation thereof.
In addition, no copyright shall subsist in any work of the Government of the
Philippines. However, prior approval of the government agency or office wherein
the work is created shall be necessary for exploitation of such work for
profit. Such agency or office may, among other things, impose as a condition
the payment of royalties. No prior approval or conditions shall be required for
the use of any purpose of statutes, rules and regulations, and speeches,
lectures, sermons, addresses and dissertations, pronounced, read or rendered in
courts of justice, before administrative agencies, in deliberative assemblies
and in meetings of public character.
1.3 Is there a system for registration of copyright and if so what is the
effect of registration?
The IP Code provides for the registration and deposit of copyrighted works with
the National Library and the Supreme Court Library. However, in a Memorandum of
Agreement signed on January 25, 2011, the National Library deputised the
Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPO) as a receiving office for
the registration and deposit of copyrighted works. To implement the said
deputisation, the Guidelines for Copyright Registration and Deposit was
formulated, which includes, among others, a procedure for registration and
deposit of copyrighted works with the Intellectual Property Satellite Offices
(IPSOs) of the IPO. The said, Guidelines did not however affect the system of
deposit of works in the field of law maintained by the Supreme Court Library.
Copyright protection exists from the moment of creation. Works are protected by
the sole fact of their creation, irrespective of their mode or form of
expression, as well as of their content, quality and purpose. Accordingly,
registration is not a mandatory requirement for the protection of a copyrighted
work. However, registration establishes a public record of the copyright claim.