IPOPHL exec: Limited free use of copyrighted work allowed under law

Free use of copyrighted work is allowed under the fair use principle of the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines but with limitations, an Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) official said Thursday.

During a televised public briefing, lawyer Exequiel Valerio of IPOPHL's Bureau of Copyright and Related Rights said the country’s Intellectual Property Code  considers the following factors:

• the purpose and character of the use of copyrighted work
• the nature of the copyrighted work
• the amount and substantiality of the portion taken from copyrighted work, and
• the effect of the use upon the potential market

“Under the principle of fair use, you can use a copyrighted work without asking permission from the owner for free, meaning you won’t need to pay for music royalties, depending on the purpose of the use of copyrighted work,” Valerio said.

“Did you use it for commercial or educational purpose? It also depends on the amount of the substantiality of the use of the copyrighted work. How big or small was the amount of copyrighted work that you used? Kung isang linya ng kanta, sa palagay ko, magiging strong instruction ‘yan for fair use, compared sa kung buong kanta,” he added.

Valerio made the response when asked if the use of one line of a song in a television show would already require payment of music royalty.

Valerio also said the use of the instrumental part or the melody of the song, even without the lyrics, is also protected since copyright law provides protection of the work from the moment of creation.

Valerio, however, conceded that fair use of copyrighted work is not a hard and fast rule.

“It really depends on the copyright owner. Because there are times when the instrumental part [of the song] or the melody are done by a different creator...the creator of the melody is different from the creator of the lyrics,” he pointed out.

“So even if you are using an instrumental alone, you will also have to ask permission from the copyright owner, unless you are only going to use it for a little time which can be fair use. It will also depend on the court how it will decide on this issue.”

Under the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, the following are not considered copyright violations:

• recitation or performance of a work, once it has been lawfully made accessible to the public, if done privately and free of charge or if made strictly for a charitable or religious institution or society;
• making of quotations from a published work if they are compatible with fair use and only to the extent justified for the purpose, including quotations from newspaper articles and periodicals in the form of press summaries (provided that the source and the name of the author, if appearing on the work, are mentioned);
• reproduction or communication to the public by mass media of articles on current political, social, economic, scientific or religious topic, lectures, addresses and other works of the same nature, which are delivered in public if such use is for information purposes and has not been expressly reserved: Provided, That the source is clearly indicated;
• reproduction and communication to the public of literary, scientific or artistic works as part of reports of current events by means of photography, cinematography or broadcasting to the extent necessary for the purpose;
• inclusion of a work in a publication, broadcast, or other communication to the public, sound recording or film, if such inclusion is made by way of illustration for teaching purposes and is compatible with fair use: Provided, That the source and the name of the author, if appearing in the work, are mentioned;
• recording made in schools, universities, or educational institutions of a work included in a broadcast for the use of such schools, universities or educational institutions: Provided, That such recording must be deleted within a reasonable period after they were first broadcast: Provided, further, That such recording may not be made from audiovisual works which are part of the general cinema repertoire of feature films except for brief excerpts of the work;
• making of ephemeral recordings by a broadcasting organization by means of its own facilities and for use in its own broadcast;
• use made of a work by or under the direction or control of the Government, by the National Library or by educational, scientific or professional institutions where such use is in the public interest and is compatible with fair use;
• public performance or the communication to the public of a work, in a place where no admission fee is charged in respect of such public performance or communication, by a club or institution for charitable or educational purpose only, whose aim is not profit making, subject to such other limitations as may be provided in the regulations;
• public display of the original or a copy of the work not made by means of a film, slide, television image or otherwise on screen or by means of any other device or process (provided that either the work has been published, or, that the original or the copy displayed has been sold, given away or otherwise transferred to another person by the author or his successor in title); and
• any use made of a work for the purpose of any judicial proceedings or for the giving of professional advice by a legal practitioner.

—KBK, GMA Integrated News