THE DIGITAL AGE AND COPYRIGHT

Monique Diana Fandagani

I. Introduction
"The Internet has been characterized
as the largest threat to copyright since its inception."
-The Copyright Website

In the 21st century, internet has been so commonplace and integrated in our everyday life that even the
Un considers it a basic right.
Internet can provide a medium for people to share their works in a platform that was not available for
our ancestors from decades ago. One may be able to film a video of someone singing and upload it on
the internet and obtain feedback in less than an hour whereas before even filming would lead to months
for a prospective singer.
With all the amount of data being uploaded and downloaded from the internet, tracking who owns what
can be difficult oftentimes impossible. ot many people put their names on their work before putting it
on a site where a person can share it to another web site and another person will share.
!here has been a sense of entitlement where people assume that since most of the content in the
internet is easily accessible for the public and considers it free to use as public domain. !hat is a
mistake because even though there is no prohibition to do so that you can see on a web site that you are
visiting, it does not mean that you are free to save the pictures on it, copy and paste the words to use to
!weet and copying and using it"s innovative html code for your own site. In fact, the law states that
#Works are protected by the sole fact of their creation, irrespective of their mode or form of e$pression,
as well as of their content, %uality and purpose# meaning it is not needed that a copyright be asserted or
declared as they are automatically in force at the creation and the author is automatically entitled to all
copyrights of the work, as accorded to us by the copyright law.
&ut what e$actly is copyright and how does it affect the world in this digital age'
II. The Co!right La"
(opyright may be defined as a form of intellectual property which protects the rights of authors and
creators of literary and artistic works. It refers to the main act in which, in respect of literary and artistic
creation, may be made only by the author or with his authori)ation. Works are protected by the sole fact
of their creation, irrespective of their mode or form of e$pression, as well as their content, %uality and
purpose.
Our (opyright law is enshrined in the *epublic +ct ,2-. also known as the Intellectual /roperty (ode
of the /hilippines or the I/ (ode for posterity. It was recently amended by *+ 10.12 on 2ebruary 2,,
201..
!he I/ (ode has been a cumulation and evolution of previous Intellectual /roperty 3aws of the
/hilippines which was in turn based on foreign sources. One such source is the &erne (onvention for
the /roduction of 3iterary, +rtistic and 4cientific Works, which was adopted on 4eptember -, 1,,5, is
the oldest international treaty in the field of copyright.
In 4ection 111 of (hapter of the same (ode, under the definitions, one would notice that the term
(opyright itself was left undefined. !he principal international treaty on copyright which is the &erne
(onvention for the/rotection of 3iterary and +rtistic Works which we are signatory and where we had
based our I/ (ode also left the term copyright undefined. !here are two reasons for this.
2irst is that copyright consists of a number of rights en6oyed by the author and the protection of
copyright means that, with some %ualifications and limitations, the use of the work is not allowed
e$cept with the consent of the author or his successor in title. !h (onvention only lays down the
minimum standard to be applied in the member countries for there are various different rights that may
be e$ercised by these different countries.
4econdly, the ver concept of copyright from a philosophical, theoretical and pragmatic point of view
differs country by country, since each has its own legal framework influenced by social and economic
factors. !o define it in a a manner binding on all member countries 7
8owever, the copyright protection has never accorded the copyright owner complete control over all
possible uses of his work. *ather, the status grants the copyright holder "e$clusive" rigths to use and to
authori)e the use of his work in five %ualified ways.7
!he primary ob6ective of copyright is not to reward the labor of authors, but to promote the progress of
science and useful arts. !o this end, copyright assures authors the right to their original e$pression, but
encourages others to create freely from the ideas or information presented but the work.
+ copyright is essentially not a right to do but a hindrance to stop others from doing something.
(opyright is a negative right.
Who can own copyrights?
!he rules on copyright ownership shall be governed by 4ection 11,9
(opyright shall belong to the author of the work, in the case of original literary and artistic works but
still sub6ect to the provisions of this section. !he author is defined as #is the natural person who has
created the work# in 4ec 111.
!here is also works of 6oint authorship where the co:authors shall be the original owners of he
copyright and in the absence of agreement, their rights shall be governed by the rules on co:ownership.
If the work consists of parts indentiable to each author that can be used separately then the author of
each part shall be the original owner of the copyright in the part he has created.
In the case of work created by an author during and in the course of his employment, the copyright
shall belong to a; the employee, if the creation of the ob6ect of copyright is not a part of his regular
duties even if the employee uses the time, facilities and materials of the employer b; the employer, if
the work is the result of the performance of his regularly:assigned duties, unless there is an agreement,
e$press or implied to the contrary.
In cases where the work is commissioned by a person other than an employer of the author who pays
for it and the work is in pursuance of the commission, the person who so commissioned the work shall
have ownership of the work, but the copyright thereto shall remain with the creator, unless there is a
written stipulation to the contrary.
What can be copyrighted?
!he Intellectual /roperty (ode lists the works that may be copyrighted into the following classes9
3iterary and artistic works, hereinafter referred to as #works#, are original intellectual creations in the
literary and artistic domain protected from the moment of their creation and shall include in particular9
a. &ooks, pamphlets, articles and other writings<
b. /eriodicals and newspapers<
c. 3ectures, sermons, addresses, dissertations prepared for oral
delivery, whether or not reduced in writing or other material
form<
d. 3etters<
e. =ramatic or dramatico:musical compositions< choreographic
works or entertainment in dumb shows<
f. >usical compositions, with or without words<
g. Works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving,
lithography or other works of art< models or designs for works of
art<
h. Original ornamental designs or models for articles of manufacture,
whether or not registrable as an industrial design, and other
works of applied art<
works relative to geography, topography, architecture or science<
6. =rawings or plastic works of a scientific or technical character<
k. /hotographic works including works produced by a process
analogous to photography< lantern slides<
l. +udiovisual works and cinematographic works and works
produced by a process analogous to cinematography or any
process for making audio:visual recordings<
m. /ictorial illustrations and advertisements<
n. (omputer programs< and
o. Other literary, scholarly, scientific and artistic works.
What are those not protected by copyright'
+ccording to 4ection 11? of the I/ (ode o protection shall e$tend #to any ideas, procedure, system,
method or operation, concept, principe, discover y or mere data as such, even if they are e$pressed,
e$plained, illustrated or embodied in a work< news of the day and other miscellaneous facts having the
character of mere items of press information< or any official te$t of a legislative, administrative or legal
nature, as well as any official translation thereof#.
Under the !*I/4 +greement, copyright protection shall e$tend to e$pressions and not ideas,
procedures, methods of operation or mathematical concepts as such, which is enshrined in +rticle -
+greement on !rade:*elated +spects of Intellectual /roperty *ights or !*I/4.
What is copyright infringement?
(opyright infringement is the violation of the economic and "e$clusive" right of the copyright holder. It
is the illegal distribution of copyrighted materials with or without profit without the knowledge of the
copyright holder.
What are the amendments?
One of the amendments are the e$clusive appellate 6urisdiction of the =irector @eneral and =eputies
=irector @eneral which was broadened in scope.
!he 3imitation on /rotection (hapter, 4ection 212.1 which states that #!he use by a natural person
e$clusively for his own personal purposes<# was erased by the amendment.
In 4ection 1-0 Importation for /ersonal /urposes , the term personal purposes was also omitted and
paragraph Ab; which states that #When such copies form parts of libraries and personal baggage
belonging to persons or families arriving from foreign countries and are not intended for sale9 /rovided,
!hat such copies do no e$ceed three A.;.B
!he 2air Use (lause was also amended to read #!he fair use of a copyrighted work for criticism,
comment, news, reporting, teaching including limited number of copies for classroom use, scholarship,
research and similar purposes is not an infringement of copyright. =ecompilation, which is understood
here to be the reproduction of the code and translation of the forms of a computer program to achieve
the inter:operability of an independently created computer program with other programs may also
constitute fair use under the criteria established by this section, to the e$tent that such decompilation is
done for the purpose of obtaining the information necessary to achieve such inter:operability.
III. The Digita# Age
"Digital technology and the internet have
created the most powerfl instrments
for the democratisation of !nowledge.
:2rancis @urry, =irector @eneral of WI/O
!he people born in the computer age are given all the knowledge of the world and universe literally
under their fingertips.
!he e$ponential growth in technology this past decade had innovated the world and internet and
gadgets such as phones and laptops and tabs are now integrated and a must need in people"s every day
life.
!his generation should be by virtue, the most intelligent children for having the benefit of all the
accumulated knowledge of their ancestors readily available. >aybe they still are what with the
youngest programmer is a seven year old and one of the youngest high :tech millionaire is a 11:year
old and one of the youngest billionaire is a 21:year old who 6ust invented 2acebook.
I$. Conc#u%ion
+ better copyright law is necessary to better encourage the people of the philippines to attain their
creative ideas and to be able to en6oy the benefit of his work and for him to be secured that his work is
effectively protected from plagiarism.
!he amendments in the I/ (ode did bolster the strength of the I/O but did the effectivity of the I/O
gain more functionality after its amendments' 4eeing as it only amounted to the loss of personal rights
and the /hilippines still remained in the U4 Watch 3ist, then there still many things needed to be
changed in our copyright laws in order to cater to the changing dynamics of the world and the internet.
(opyrights are sort of a gray area especially in the /hilippines. !heoretically there are laws applicable
to crimes against copyright infringement however the implementation and practicality of it is lost to the
masses. (opyright is not only limited to people of the technical industry pleading for patents and big:
shot companies with their trademarks looming over with the threat of suit upon them for any
infringement that may be seen as a potential loss of financial market for them. (opyright is for
everyone, the hopeful artist posting his newest original art, the singer who filmed a new music video
from his newly penned song, the kids who are into coding and making programs and every one who
has something to offer that they created out of their passion and genius. What happens now if they put
it in the internet and other people would benefit from it, put their name on it, literally steal it and
copyright laws that had afforded little protection before would provide even less now that technology
got the better of it.
Unless the copyright laws are changed and amended harkening back to it"s true purpose which is "to
promote the /rogress of 4cience and Useful +rts" then copyright infringements would continue to
proliferate not only in the real world but in the binary havens of the internet.
$. Re&erence%
73addie, /rescot and Citoria, !he >odern 3aw of (opyright D1-,0E
74ony (orp vs. Universal (ity 4tudios, Inc
7WI/O : @uide to the &erne (onvention, p 11
7U.4. (O4!. +rt 1. 4ec. ,. (lause ,.
7Cicente C. +mador, (opyright Under the Intellectual /roperty (ode, 2:. A1--, ed.;