Who may secure copyright
- Section 2 allows copyright to be secured by any citizen of the Philippine Islands or of the United States for works falling within the listed classes of work.
- Section 10 limits copyright extension to a proprietor who is not a citizen of the Philippine Islands or of the United States, by requiring at least one of the following:
- The alien proprietor is domiciled within the Philippine Islands at the time the application is made (Section 10(a)).
- The foreign state grants, by treaty, convention, agreement, or law, substantially equal protection to citizens of the United States or the Philippines (Section 10(b)).
- The foreign state is a party to an international agreement providing for reciprocity, allowing the United States or the Philippines to become a party thereto (Section 10(c)).
Copyrightable works (classes)
- Section 2 lists the following classes of work that may be copyrighted:
- Books (including composite and cyclopedic works), manuscripts, directories, gazetteers, and other compilations (Section 2(a)).
- Periodicals (including pamphlets) (Section 2(b)).
- Lectures, sermons, addresses, dissertations prepared for oral delivery (Section 2(c)).
- Dramatic or dramatico-musical compositions (Section 2(d)).
- Musical compositions with or without words (Section 2(e)).
- Maps, plans, sketches, charts, drawings, designs (Section 2(f)).
- Works of art; models or designs for works of art (Section 2(g)).
- Reproductions of a work of art (Section 2(h)).
- Drawings or plastic works of a scientific or technical character (Section 2(i)).
- Photographs, engravings, litographs, lantern slides, cinematographic pictures (Section 2(j)).
- Prints and pictorial illustrations (Section 2(k)).
- Dramatizations, translations, adaptations, collections, compilations, abridgments, arrangements, commentaries, critical studies, abstracts, versifications (Section 2(l)).
- Other articles and writings (Section 2(m)).
- Errors in classification do not invalidate or impair copyright protection (Section 2).
Exclusive rights of the proprietor
- Section 3 grants the proprietor of a copyright (or his heirs or assigns) the exclusive right to:
- Print, reprint, publish, copy, distribute, multiply, sell, and make photographs, photo-engravings, and pictorial illustrations (Section 3(a)).
- Make translations, other versions, extracts, arrangements, or adaptations; dramatize a non-dramatic work; convert a drama into a non-dramatic work; complete or execute a model or design (Section 3(b)).
- Exhibit, perform, represent, produce, or reproduce the copyrighted work in any manner or by any method, for profit or otherwise; and if not reproduced in copies for sale, sell manuscripts or any record of them (Section 3(c)).
- Make any other use or disposition of the copyrighted work consistent with the laws of the land (Section 3(d)).
Definitions, treatment of notices, and public domain
- Section 4 provides that works published without the author’s name or under pseudonyms are considered the property of the publishers.
- Section 5 allows quotation/citation/reproduction for comment, dissertation, or criticism, covering lines, passages, or paragraphs from a book or other copyrighted works.
- Section 5 permits reproduction of news items, editorial paragraphs, and articles in periodicals unless they contain a notice that publication is reserved or that copyright is reserved, and requires citation of the source of reproduction or original.
- Section 5 allows parts of musical works of little extent to be reproduced.
- Section 6 provides that copyright protects all copyrightable component parts of a work and all matter therein, but does not extend/diminish the duration or scope beyond the Act.
- Section 7 provides that certain derivative compilations and adaptations are treated as new works subject to copyright, while publication of new works does not affect subsisting copyrights in the matter employed.
- Section 8 provides that no copyright subsists in:
- The original of a work already in the public domain (Section 8).
- Any publication and official document of the Philippine Government and any reprint in whole or part of them (Section 8).
- Speeches, lectures, sermons, addresses, and dissertations pronounced or read in courts of justice, before administrative tribunals, in deliberative assemblies, and in meetings of public character (Section 8).
- Section 16 defines the required copyright notice as the word “Copyright” accompanied by the name of the copyright proprietor and the year in which the copyright was registered.
- Section 17 provides consequences for omission of the prescribed notice: it does not invalidate copyright or bar infringement recovery after actual notice, but it prevents recovery of damages against an innocent infringer misled by the omission, and removes the availability of a permanent injunction unless the proprietor reimburses the innocent infringer’s reasonable outlay innocently incurred.
Securing copyright: registration, deposit, and forms
- Section 11 requires that copyright be secured by:
- Registration of the claim to copyright under the Act; and
- Publication with the required notice of copyright on the front part or title-page of each copy published or offered for sale; and
- Deposit with the Director of the Philippine Library and Museum by personal delivery or registered mail:
- Two complete copies of the copyrighted work, or
- One copy of the issue containing the work if it is a contribution to a periodical.
- Section 11 provides that no copyright exists until the requirements on deposit of copies and registration are complied with.
- Section 12 allows copyright for works not having copies reproduced by depositing:
- One complete copy, or
- A photographic print or a photograph or other identifying reproduction best for public protection (as determined by the Director of the Philippine Library and Museum),
- With the rule that once reproduced copies exist, Section 11 applies.
- Section 13 prohibits copyrighting any immoral or unchaste work.
- Section 13 provides that if the Attorney-General determines after copyright is secured that the work is immoral or unchaste, the copyright becomes null and void, and the proprietor is subject to criminal prosecution.
- Section 13 authorizes destruction of deposited copies and related instruments ordered by the Department Head upon order by the Director of the Philippine Library and Museum if ordered by the Department Head.
- Section 14 treats works in series or with several volumes/component parts registered at intervals as distinct and separate works subject to copyright.
Affidavits and false statements
- Section 15 requires that deposited copies under Sections 11 and 12 be accompanied by an affidavit under official seal of an officer authorized to administer oaths in the Philippines stating:
- Where and in what establishments the work was made or performed;
- The date of completion; or
- The date of publication;
- And other requisites the Director of the Philippine Library and Museum will later determine subject to approval of the Secretary of Justice.
- Section 15 provides that any person making a false statement in the affidavit is guilty of a crime punishable by a fine of not more than two thousand pesos and is subject to forfeiture of all rights and privileges under the copyright thereafter.
Term, renewal, and series rule
- Section 18 provides that copyright endures for thirty years from the date it is registered.
- Section 18 provides renewal for an additional thirty years if application for renewal is filed to the Philippine Library and Museum within one year prior to the expiration of the original term.
- Section 18 provides that if no renewal application is filed, copyright expires at the end of thirty years from registration.
- Section 18 provides that for works in series or having several volumes/component parts registered at intervals, copyright endures for forty years from registration of the first series/volume/component part and may be renewed for the same period.
Enforcement: civil liabilities and criminal penalties
- Section 19 makes an infringer liable to:
- An injunction restraining infringement (Section 19(a)).
- Damages suffered by the proprietor (or heirs/assigns) and all profits the infringer made from infringement; and in proving profits, plaintiff proves sales only while defendant proves every element of cost claimed (Section 19(b)).
- In lieu of actual damages and profits, damages that a court considers just, subject to a range of not exceeding ten thousand pesos and not less than two hundred pesos, and such damages are not regarded as a penalty (Section 19(b)).
- Other terms and conditions deemed wise and equitable (Section 19(c)).
- Section 20 provides that an infringer (or one who aids or abets infringement) is guilty of a crime punishable by:
- Imprisonment not exceeding one year, or
- Fine not less than two hundred pesos nor more than two thousand pesos, or
- Both, at the court’s discretion (Section 20).
- Section 20 provides that religious, charitable, or educational work performed strictly for those purposes and not for profit by an educational, charitable, or religious institution or society is not prevented by the Act.
- Section 21 penalizes certain notice-related acts, including:
- Inserting/impressing a copyright notice required by the Act in an uncopyrighted work;
- Removing or altering the copyright notice on a duly copyrighted work;
- Issuing or selling a work bearing “Philippine Islands copyright” notice that has not been copyrighted in the Islands;
- Importing any work bearing such notice not copyrighted in the Islands;
- With criminal punishment of a fine not less than two hundred and not more than two thousand pesos (Section 21).
- Section 22 prohibits importation into the Philippines of articles bearing notice of Philippine copyright that does not exist in the Philippines, and prohibits piratical copies or likenesses of works copyrighted in the Philippines unless imported with the copyright proprietor’s authority, subject to specific exceptions (Section 22).
Importation exceptions and administrative seizure powers
- Section 22 permits importation without authority only in these circumstances:
- Importation of not more than one copy at one time for strictly individual use only (Section 22, First).
- Importation by authority or for use of the Philippine Government or the United States Government (Section 22, Second).
- Importation for use only and not for sale, not more than three copies of the work in any one invoice, in good faith for a religious, charitable, or educational society or institution duly incorporated or registered, or for the encouragement of the fine arts, or for any State, school, college, university, or free public library in the Philippines (Section 22, Third).
- Importation where the works form parts of libraries or personal baggage of persons or families arriving from foreign countries and are not intended for sale (Section 22, Fourth).
- Section 22 provides that copies imported under these exceptions may not be used to violate the proprietor’s Philippine copyright rights; any unlawful use is treated as infringement of copyright.
- Section 23 empowers the Secretary of Justice and the Secretary of Commerce and Communications to make rules and regulations to:
- Prevent importation of articles prohibited by the Act; and
- Seize and condemn and dispose of prohibited articles discovered after importation.
Jurisdiction and prescription
- Section 24 provides that actions, suits, or proceedings arising under the Act are originally cognizable by the Courts of First Instance.
- Section 24 provides that such actions prescribe after two years from the time the cause of action arose.
Relationship of copyright to physical ownership
- Section 25 provides that copyright is distinct from the property in the material object copyrighted.
- Section 25 provides that assignment or conveyance of copyright by gift or otherwise does not by itself transfer the material object.
Assignments, recording, notice substitution, and effects of non-filing
- Section 26 requires filing a copy of every assignment or conveyance of copyright, or permission/license to use it, or inherited right to it with the Philippine Library and Museum upon payment of the prescribed fee, within:
- three calendar months after execution in the Philippine Islands, or
- six months after execution outside the Philippines.
- Section 26 provides that failure to file makes the instrument void as against any subsequent purchaser or mortgagee or assignee for a valuable consideration without notice whose assignment has been duly filed.
- Section 27 provides that the filed copy is returned to the sender with a certificate of assignment attached under the seal of the copyright office.
- Section 28 provides that when an assignment of copyright for a specified work is registered, the assignee may substitute his name for that of the assignor in the statutory notice of copyright.
Copyright office administration, records, inspection, and fees
- Section 29 authorizes the Director of the Philippine Library and Museum (subject to approval of the Secretary of Justice) to make rules and regulations for:
- Management, supervision, and disposition of the copyright office and everything in it; and
- Registration of claims to copyright as provided by the Act; and
- Filing of instruments in writing relating to copyright; and
- Providing and keeping record books and equipment required to carry out the Act.
- Section 30 requires that a certificate of registration be issued to the registered claimant, under the seal of the Philippine Library and Museum, with contents, form, and design determined by the Director.
- Section 30 provides that the certificate is admitted in any court as prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein.
- Section 31 provides that all copies deposited and instruments filed under the Act become the property of the Government of the Philippine Islands.
- Section 32 provides that the copyright office and everything in it are opened to public inspection subject to safeguards and regulations prescribed by the Director and approved by the Secretary of Justice.
- Section 33 sets fees payable to the Director of the Philippine Library and Museum:
- PHP 3 for registration of any work subject to copyright (Section 33(a)).
- PHP 2 for each assignment, license with notice, or other instrument of writing filed (Section 33(b)).
- PHP 1 for every certified copy issued (Section 33(c).
Fees exemption and effect on existing copyrights
- Section 34 provides that works on which copyrights exist upon approval of the Act may be copyrighted under the Act free from any fees.
Procedural infrastructure for court and government actors
- Section 23 authorizes rulemaking and enforcement actions by the Secretary of Justice and the Secretary of Commerce and Communications for preventing and handling prohibited imports.
- Section 24 assigns original cognizance of copyright actions to the Courts of First Instance and sets a two-year prescriptive period from accrual of the cause of action.