Conversations on How to Copy Right

by Jonas T. Sahagun
About eighty (80) participants braved the rains and flood brought by Typhoon Mario
last September 19, 2014 to listen to copyright experts from different parts of the
world who shared best practices in their respective countries in the Copy & Repro:
International Conference on IP Policies & Copyright Licensing for Schools and
Universities organized by the Book Development Association of the Philippines
(BDAP), Filipinas Copyright Licensing Society, Inc. (FILCOLS) and International
Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations (IFRRO).
Copyright & Enforcement. After being on the United States Trade Representative
(USTR) Special 301 Watch List for the past twenty (20) years, the Philippines was
removed from the list recently last April 2014. Placement in the USTR Watch List
indicates that particular problems exist in that country with respect to intellectual
property rights (IPR) protection, enforcement, or market access for persons relying
on intellectual property.
To keep the Philippines off the list, Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines
(IPOPHL) Director General Ricardo R. Blancaflor summarized IPOPHL efforts in terms
of promoting awareness and enforcement of IPR such as increased enforcement
actions through the National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights (NCIPR)
agencies; streamlining judicial procedures through the special IP rules; capacity
building for judges and prosecutors; and effective awareness campaigns.
Copyright & Economic growth. Copyright is important in Philippine economic
growth as Director General Blancaflor added that copyright earnings contribute
4.8% to Gross National Product (GNP) and that 11.1% of our work force is employed
in copyright-based or creative industry sectors.
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Director Napoleon Juanillo, Jr., Ph.D. shared
that analysts of the knowledge society or knowledge economy characterize the
university not just as generator of knowledge, an educator of young minds and a
transmitter of culture but also a major agent of economic growth. It is both a
Research and Development laboratory and a mechanism through which the nation
builds its human capital to enable it to actively participate in the global economy.
IP Policies for Schools and Universities. Director Juanillo, underscored the
importance of adopting an IP Policy in higher education institutions (HEIs) not only
to protect the rights of their own knowledge producers but also to respect those of
others who much earlier produced relevant knowledge. He further shared that a
clear understanding of the roles of each stakeholder inside the institutions, as well
as outside, is important continuous communication must exist with the external
stakeholders including the government, the industry, the legal and financial
institutions. Partnership must be forged between the different groups so that the
atmosphere of creativity thrives.
Under Sec. 27 of R.A. No. 10372 amending Chap. XX of R.A. No. 8293 (IP Code),
schools and universities shall adopt intellectual property policies that would govern

the use and creation of intellectual property with the purpose of safeguarding the
intellectual creations of the learning institution and its employees. It is important to
note that the University of Santo Tomas (UST) have adopted its own intellectual
property policy (IP Policy) since 2009.
Fair Use/Fair Dealing Exceptions. As sample of fair use, Mr. Olav Stokkmo, CEO
of IFRRO, gave the illustration for teaching exception which is a narrow exception
to allow exactly what it says: to illustrate. The underlying rationale for the concept
is to cover minor acts of copying such as for instance a teacher writing something
down on the blackboard/whiteboard or a student copying a passage of a text for
revision or exam purposes. In the Australian context, Ms. Caroline Morgan, Chair of
IFFRO Asia Pacific Committee, shared education exceptions such as fair dealing for
criticism and review and insubstantial use such as 1% of a work every 14 days.
In Philippine jurisdiction, fair use of a copyrighted work for criticism, comment, news
reporting, teaching including limited numbers of copies for classroom use,
scholarship, research, and similar purposes is statutorily allowed. Although the term
fair use eludes precise definition, according to Mr. Stokkmo, exceptions must
observe criteria for brevity, spontaneity and represent minor acts of copying.
Licensing for Schools and Universities. In the Philippines, FILCOLS is the
reproduction rights organization (RRO) officially accredited by IPOPHL to collectively
administer, license, and enforce the right of reproduction of authors, publishers, and
other right holders in the text and image sector.
An example of an education license is of the Copyright Licensing New Zealand
(CLNZ) which enables staff to make multiple copies from an original, to share with
students. This includes copy & scan of books, textbooks, journals, periodicals,
newspapers up to 10% of a book; 15 pages from a book of short stories or poetry; 1
journal/periodical article or 5 articles per newspaper which can be shared via
hardcopy, CD/DVD, email, or intranet via password protected system.
Illegal photocopying and scanning, according to Dr. Isagani Cruz, Chair of FILCOLS,
is rampant in and around HEIs and strongly referred to these activities as stealing
from authors. Hundreds of thousands of pages reproduced without a single cent of
royalty paid to authors. Furthermore, Dr. Cruz said that with approximately the
amount of a cellphone prepaid card per student, an HEI may get a license and be
copyright compliant.
Balancing Exceptions and Collective Licensing. Ms. Caroline Morgan, Chair of
IFFRO Asia Pacific Committee, forwarded that what we need is a shared
understanding of complementary nature of exceptions and collective licensing,
supported by clear school and university policies, agreed guidelines for the scope of
use under exceptions, and transparency in fee setting and license negotiation.
The Philippine situation is far different from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and
other developed countries which are way ahead in the practice of collective
licensing. Hence, the consensus is that it is best to continue with conversations on
what can be agreed upon as fair for both the creator and the user.

In her closing remarks, Ms. Karina Bolasco, Vice Chair of FILCOLS, shared that good
intentions will make us find that tricky balance between copy right and copy left,
between intellectual property rights and fair access to knowledge in the pursuit of
education.