Question & AnswerQ&A (PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1203)
The main purpose of Presidential Decree No. 1203 is to further amend Presidential Decree No. 285, as amended by Presidential Decree No. 400, to regulate the compulsory licensing or reprinting of educational, scientific, or cultural books and materials when their prices become exorbitant and detrimental to the national interest, while providing safeguards to protect the rights of authors and publishers.
The Reprint Committee is composed of the Secretary of Education and Culture as Chairman, the Director General of the National Economic Development Authority, the Chairman of the Textbook Board, and the Director of the National Library as members.
A book can be reprinted if its price, as determined by the Reprint Committee, is so exorbitant as to be detrimental to the national interest. Only one private publisher or printer authorized by the Committee may reprint a particular title, and applicants must file an application with the National Library including specific information about the book, pricing, printer, and number of copies. The reprinting must be completed within sixty days from approval.
Exorbitant price is defined as a price not less than Thirty Five Pesos (P35.00) per unit, or otherwise increased by the Reprint Committee.
The reprinting awardee must pay at least seven per cent (7%) of the list price in the Philippines for locally published books, or at least two per cent (2%) of the foreign list price for books published abroad. Royalties must be reported and paid every six months.
The export of reprinted books is prohibited. Any reprinter found guilty of exporting reprinted books will be penalized under Section 5, disqualified from further reprinting, and have their trader license cancelled.
Violators face imprisonment of not less than six months nor more than three years, or a fine ranging from Ten Thousand Pesos to Fifty Thousand Pesos, or both. Firms or corporations are held responsible, including their directors or managers. Books printed, published, or exported in violation shall be confiscated and the offending establishment closed.
The applicant must provide the title, author, and original publisher of the book, the foreign list price (if it's a Philippine book), the proposed list price for the reprinted material, the name of the actual printer, the number of copies to be reprinted, and the name and address of the applicant.
They are assured safeguards against abuses, including the payment of royalties, acknowledgment of authorship and copyright proprietors on reprinted copies, and protection against unauthorized export or reproduction.
Disputes are decided by the Reprint Committee. Their decisions become final after 15 days unless an appeal is taken by the aggrieved party to the Office of the President within that period.