QuestionsQuestions (PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 49)
PD 49 is a decree on the protection of intellectual property, specifically granting copyright protections over enumerated categories of works and providing rules on scope, limitations, transfer, duration, registration/deposit, infringement, moral rights, performers/record producers/broadcasting organizations, and remedies.
Section 2 enumerates numerous copyrightable works, including books, periodicals, lectures, letters, dramatic and musical works, drawings/paintings/architecture/sculpture, models/designs for applied art, maps/plans/charts, photographic works, cinematographic/analogous audio-visual recordings, computer programs, prints/advertising materials, dramatizations/translations/adaptations/arrangements, collections that are intellectual creations, and other literary, scholarly, scientific and artistic works.
No. Under Section 3, copyright rights shall not be lost except in the manner specifically provided in PD 49, and they shall not be subject to levy and attachment while in the possession of the creator or his heirs.
Section 5 grants exclusive rights such as printing/reprinting/publishing/copying/distributing/multiplying/selling and photographing; making translations/versions/extracts/arrangements/adaptations; dramatizing or converting formats depending on the nature of the work; exhibiting/performing/representing/producing/reproducing for profit or otherwise; selling manuscripts/records if not in saleable copies; and making any other use or disposition consistent with laws.
If the creation is not part of the employee’s regular duties, the employee owns the copyright. If it is the result of performance of the employer’s regularly assigned duties, the employer owns it unless there is a contrary express/implied agreement.
The commissioner owns the work, but the copyright belongs to him and the creator jointly unless stipulated otherwise.
Creators include the producer, scenario author, music composer, film director, photographic director, and author of the adapted work. Subject to contrary stipulations, the producer exercises the copyright to the extent required for exhibition, except the right to collect performing fees for musical compositions incorporated into the work.
No copyright subsists in any work of the Government of the Philippines, but prior approval of the creating government agency/office is required for exploitation for profit, which may impose royalty conditions. Certain uses (e.g., statutes, rules and regulations, and court/administrative speeches/lectures/dissertations) do not require prior approval.
If the work is lawfully made accessible to the public, the author cannot prohibit recitation or performance done privately and free of charge, or done for strictly charitable or religious institutions/societies.
Quotations/excerpts are permissible to the extent compatible with fair practice and justified by scientific/critical/informational/educational purpose. They may be in original form or translation, must include acknowledgment of the source and the author’s name if the author is indicated.
Subject to specified conditions, they may produce copies by photographic means without consent for their activities. They may reproduce fragile/rare materials for loans (limited copies), reproduce isolated articles and brief portions for research/study loan requests (one copy per requesting person per article/portion), and reproduce missing minor portions. They cannot reproduce works not disseminated without consent except for preservation.
If, after five years from the first publication, a translation into the national or local language has not been published by the right holder or authorized persons, and the citizen establishes request/denial or inability to find the owner after due diligence. The license must state royalties and other terms; the license is granted only after certain waiting periods and cannot be granted if the author withdrew all copies.
Copyright is distinct from the property in the material object subject to it. Transfer/assignment of copyright does not transfer the material object, and transfer/assignment of the sole copy or copies does not imply transfer/assignment of the copyright.
It must be in writing, acknowledged before a notary public or authorized officer, and certified under the hand and seal of the notary/authorized officer.
Assignments, licenses, and instruments must be filed in duplicate with the National Library upon payment of the prescribed fee for registration. Upon recording, a copy is returned with notation. The record notice is published in the Official Gazette, and unrecorded instruments are void against subsequent purchasers/mortgagees for valuable consideration without notice.
Copyright endures during the lifetime of the creator and for 50 years after his death. For works of joint creation, 50 years is counted from the death of the last surviving co-creator.
It lasts until the end of 50 years following the date of first publication. If the pseudonym leaves no doubt as to identity or the author discloses identity during the period, the term becomes that fixed for non-anonymous works (lifetime plus 50 years after death).
If required deposit copies/reproductions are not delivered and fees not paid after a written demand (and even without demand), the owner cannot recover damages in an infringement suit and is limited to other remedies specified in Section 23 (as referenced by Section 26).
Civil remedies include injunction; actual damages and infringer’s profits (with rules on proof), or in lieu thereof just damages not less than One Thousand Pesos; delivery for impounding; delivery for destruction of infringing copies/devices/means; and possible moral and exemplary damages. Criminal liability for infringement includes imprisonment not exceeding one year and/or fine not less than Two Hundred Pesos nor more than Two Thousand Pesos.
Moral rights include: making alterations or withholding publication; requiring attribution; objecting to alterations prejudicial to reputation; restraining use of name for non-created/distorted versions. Section 39 provides moral rights are perpetual and imprescriptible. They may be assigned or waived only by a written instrument expressly so stating, but not to permit use that would substantially injure reputation or use of creator’s name with respect to a work not of his creation.