Recently, The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) took a significant step forward in the protection of copyright. It was announced that the Bureau of Copyright will be established by early next year to strengthen copyright protection.
The Bureau of Copyright will accredit collective management organizations (CMOs) that gather royalty fees from anyone who uses copyrighted materials. Before the establishment of the Bureau, only composers who were members of the Filipino Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers have been able to collect royalty fees. Singers and performers, however, did not receive any compensation.
The establishment of the new bureau is good news for European individuals and companies working in and/or with the Philippines, particularly in industries such as design, fashion, architecture, ICT and digital, music and entertainment. Because the Bureau will not be up and running until next year it remains to be seen the effectiveness and impact that it will have, however this is certainly a step in the right direction for the enforcement of your copyright in the Philippines.
If you do, or are planning on doing, business with the Philippines, check out our Philippines IP Country Factsheet for more background on the IPR climate there – it can be downloaded free of charge from the ASEAN IPR SME Helpdesk website here.
For further Philippines related IPR advice, join the ASEAN IPR SME Helpdesk for a webinar entitled: ‘Intellectual Property Rights Protection Strategies in the Philippines for EU SMEs’ on 28 November 2013.
For a general overview of intellectual property rights protection, please check out the Helpdesk’s webinar recording: ‘Introduction to Intellectual Property Rights Protection in South East Asia for European Small and Medium Enterprises’. You can also find a copy of the PPT that was presented at the webinar.
Factsheet: http://www.asean-iprhelpdesk.eu/sites/default/files/publications/Philippines%20Factsheet.pdf
Future Webinar: http://www.asean-iprhelpdesk.eu/?q=en/node/200
Past Webinar: http://www.asean-iprhelpdesk.eu/?q=en/node/72