Recently finding myself in Manila, the warm and balmy capital of
the Philippines (which was fortunately not hit by typhoon Bohpa), I thought it
appropriate to write a post on the copyright bill recently approved by the
Philippine Senate. The bill still needs to be approved by the lower house of Congress
and the House of Representatives before it can be signed by the president and
become law, a move which is anticipated to take place this year.
Like many Asian countries, the Philippines' international
reputation in respect of copyright and distribution of counterfeit goods is poor. According
to a Senate
press release, Senator Manny Villar, the principal sponsor of Senate
Bill 2842, says that the bill will better enable the Philippines to fight
piracy, prevent theft of intellectual property and protect copyright works. The
Philippines international reputation, in particular in respect of the US, is
clearly a driver for reform:
"Villar said that copyright piracy in the country was so bad
that the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), a private group
composed of trade associations in copy-right based industries in the United
States, had recommended the Philippines and 12 other countries to be placed in
the Priority Watch List of the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR)
2011 Special 301 Report on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).
"To be included in the USTR's Priority Watch List means that
countries do not provide an adequate level of IPR protection, enforcement or
market access for persons relying on intellectual property protection,"
Villar explained.
He said the passage of the Anti-Camrecording Act of 2009 had
prompted the removal of the Philippines from the USTR's out-of-cycle review
last year. However, he added, the Philippines remain in the lower level Watch
List since 2005.
The US have specified in their Special
301 Report for 2012 that the
Philippines should remain on the US watch list meaning that, as a trading
partner, the Philippines does not provide adequate protection of US IP rights
protection and enforcement.
The new bill seeks to remedy this by expanding the scope of
infringement to include contributory infringement as well as the circumvention
of technological measures and rights management information. It also provides
for statutory damages in addition to actual damages.
Further the bill will restrict fair use under Philippine law so
that it applies only to a limited number of copies, but specifies that the
right does extend to include blind and visually-impaired persons' use of
non-commercial works, in line with WIPO's
proposed exemption.
It will be interesting to read the bill in full
if it is passed this year, and to see what impact it has on the rapidly developing
economy of the Philippines.
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