Week 10 Case 25 G.R. No. 131522

Question 1

Under Section 177 of RA 8293 (The Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines), what protection is accorded to a copyright owner?

Answer 1

Sec. 177.
Copy or Economic rights. — Subject to the provisions of chapter VIII, copyright
or economic rights shall consist of the exclusive right to carry out, authorize or
prevent the following acts:

177.1 Reproduction of the work or substantial
portion of the work;

177.2 Dramatization, translation, adaptation, abridgment,
arrangement or other transformation of the work;

177.3 The first public
distribution of the original and each copy of the work by sale or other forms of transfer of ownership;

177.4 Rental of the original or a copy of an audiovisual or cinematographic work, a work embodied in a sound recording, a computer program, a compilation of data and other materials or a musical work in graphic form, irrespective of the ownership of the original or the copy which is
the subject of the rental;

177.5 Public display of the original or copy of the
work;

177.6 Public performance of the work; and

177.7 Other communication to
the public of the work.

Question 2

Under Section 184.1 of RA 8293 (The Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines), what protection is accorded to a copyright owner as to limitations in a copyright?

Answer 2

“Sec. 184.1 Limitations on copyright. — Notwithstanding the provisions of Chapter V, the following acts shall not constitute infringement of copyright:

(a)
the recitation or performance of a work, once it has been lawfully made accessible to the public, if done privately and free of charge or if made strictly for a charitable or religious institution or society; [Sec. 10(1), P.D. No. 49]

(b)
The making of quotations from a published work if they are compatible with fair use and only to the extent justified for the purpose, including quotations from newspaper articles and periodicals in the form of press summaries; Provided, that the source and the name of the author, if appearing on the work are
mentioned; (Sec. 11 third par. P.D. 49)

. . .

(e) The inclusion of a work in a
publication, broadcast, or other communication to the public, sound recording of film, if such inclusion is made by way of illustration for teaching purposes and is compatible with fair use: Provided, That the source and the name of the
author, if appearing in the work is mentioned;

In the above-quoted provisions,
“work” has reference to literary and artistic creations and this includes books and other literary, scholarly and scientific works.

Question 3

When is copyright infringement committeed?

Answer 3

When is there a substantial reproduction of a book? It does not necessarily require that the entire copyrighted work, or even a large portion of it, be copied. If so much is taken that the value of the original work is substantially diminished, there is an infringement of copyright and to an injurious extent, the work is appropriated. In determining the question of infringement, the amount of
matter copied from the copyrighted work is an important consideration. To
constitute infringement, it is not necessary that the whole or even a large portion of the work shall have been copied. If so much is taken that the value of
the original is sensibly diminished, or the labors of the original author are
substantially and to an injurious extent appropriated by another, that is sufficient in point of law to constitute piracy. The essence of intellectual piracy should be essayed in conceptual terms in order to underscore its gravity by an appropriate understanding thereof. Infringement of a copyright is a trespass on a private domain owned and occupied by the owner of the copyright, and,
therefore, protected by law, and infringement of copyright, or piracy, which is a
synonymous term in this connection, consists in the doing by any person, without the consent of the owner of the copyright, of anything the sole right to do which is conferred by statute on the owner of the copyright.

Question 4

When is copyright infringement not committed?

Answer 4

In this jurisdiction under
Sec. 184 of Republic Act 8293, it is provided that:

Limitations on Copyright.
Notwithstanding the provisions of Chapter V, the following shall not constitute infringement of copyright: . . .

(c) The making of quotations from a published work if they are compatible with fair use and only to the extent justified for the purpose, including quotations from newspaper articles and periodicals in the
form of press summaries: Provided, That the source and the name of the author, if appearing on the work, are mentioned. A copy of a piracy is an infringement of the original, and it is no defense that the pirate, in such cases, did not know whether or not he was infringing any copyright; he at least knew that what he was copying was not his, and he copied at his peril.

Question 5

What is the purpose of a copyright?

Answer 5

In copyrighting books
the purpose is to give protection to the intellectual product of an author. This is precisely what the law on copyright protected, under Section 184.1 (b).
Quotations from a published work if they are compatible with fair use and only to the extent justified by the purpose, including quotations from newspaper articles and periodicals in the form of press summaries are allowed provided
that the source and the name of the author, if appearing on the work, are mentioned.