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THE
Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IP
Philippines) said Tuesday major issues raised about the
Philippines by US lobby group International Intellectual
Property Alliance (IIPA) for the evaluation of the
United States Trade Representative are unfounded.
“We are
receptive to feedback from foreign IP associations, [as]
they are constituents of a valued ally and trading
partner of the country, but they must be based on
facts,” lawyer Adrian Cristobal Jr., IP Philippines
director general, said in a news release.
“The
primary duty of member-agencies of the National
Committee on IPR [NCIPR] is to protect and promote the
creativity and innovation of Filipinos by using
intellectual property as a tool for national
development,” Cristobal stressed.
“It is
in our common interest that the IP system protects and
promotes creativity; but the IIPA should also look
beyond their own economic self-interest if IPR is to
spur social and economic development in the
Philippines,” he added.
Cristobal called “inaccurate” one of IIPA’s assertions
in its Special 301 recommendation that copyright piracy
in the Philippines has gotten worse in 2007.
Cristobal, who is also NCIPR chairman, said the Optical
Media Board (OMB) hauled in P1.12 billion worth of
pirated optical discs and related items, which are
copyright products. The OMB was a close second to the
Bureau of Customs (BOC), which seized a total of P1.15
billion worth of fake goods last year.
“In 2007
the NCIPR enforcement agencies such as the OMB, the BOC,
the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the
Philippine National Police (PNP) continued to strengthen
the intellectual-property regime of the country through
effective enforcement. Last year’s operations resulted
in the confiscation of fake items valued at almost P3
billion, exceeding the combined confiscated value of
goods seized in 2005 and 2006 by half a million,”
Cristobal said.
Another
baseless statement in the IIPA recommendation, Cristobal
said, is the “less helpful” Philippine IP Policy
Strategy (PIPPS) that IP Philippines spearheaded with
the participation of private and public organizations.
PIPPS
recognizes the contribution of copyright-based
industries to the country’s gross domestic product at
4.82 percent, hence the inclusion of copyright and other
creative industries as one of the eight sectors
representing the country’s IP assets.
One of
the specific, strategic actions for the copyright sector
is the formulation and implementation of policies for
the recognition and accreditation of copyright
collection management organizations. The Filipinas
Copyright Licensing Society (Filcols), for instance, the
first collection society for book authors in the
country, was launched with the help of IP Philippines.
Collection societies will manage arrangements for
copyright licensing, marketing and distribution of the
members’ works, and enforce their IPR.
“The
community of writers would benefit economically from the
establishment of Filcols. [It] will be the muscle to
collect what is due them every time their pieces are
used,” National Artist for Literature Virgilio Almario,
who is also Filcols chairman, said during the induction
of the society’s officers.
Ralph
Oman, counsel of Dechert Law Firm in Washington, D.C.,
and former Register of Copyrights of the
US
from 1985 to 1993, during a courtesy visit to IP
Philippines lauded the office’s efforts in supporting
the creative sector, especially in helping the latter
form collection societies. Oman also offered to provide
linkages with the international institutes on copyright
for technical assistance in research, education and
capacity-building.
IIPA
members include the Association of American Publishers,
Business Software Alliance, Entertainment Software
Association, Independent Film and Television Alliance,
Motion Picture Association of America, National Music
Publishers’ Association and Recording Industry
Association of America. |
