What are Protected from Copyright Infringement
The following are protected by our Intellectual Property
Law against Copyright Infringement from the moment of their creation[1], during the life of the
author and 50 years after his death except for: work of applied art (25 years
from the date of making)[2], performances not
incorporated in recordings (50 years
from the end of the year the performance took place), sound or image and sound
recordings and for performances incorporated therein (50 years from the end of
the year the performance took place) and broadcasts (20 years after the
broadcast took place)
1.
Literary and Artistic Works[3]
a.
Books, pamphlets, articles and other writings
b.
Periodicals and newspapers
c.
Lectures, sermons, addresses, dissertations prepared for
oral delivery, whether or not reduced in
writing or other material form
d.
Letters
e.
Dramatic or dramatico-musica
f.
Compositions choreographic works or entertainment in dumb
shows
g.
Musical compositions, with or without words
h.
Works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture,
engraving, lithography or other works of art models or designs for works of art
i.
Original ornamental designs or models for articles of
manufacture, whether or not registrable as an industrial design, and other
works of applied art
j.
Illustrations, maps, plans, sketches, charts and
three-dimensional works relative to
geography, topography, architecture or science
k.
Drawings or plastic works of a scientific or technical
character
l.
Photographic works
m.
Audiovisual works and cinematographic works and works
produced by a process analogous to cinematography or any process for making
audio-visual recordings
n.
Pictorial illustrations and advertisements
o.
Computer programs
p.
Other literary, scholarly, scientific and artistic works
2.
Derivative Works [4]
a.
Dramatizations, translations, adaptations, abridgments,
arrangements, and other alterations of literary or artistic works
b.
Collections of literary, scholarly or artistic works, and
compilations of data and other materials which are original by reason of the
selection or coordination or arrangement of their contents
3.
Works of the
Government [5]
a.
Speeches
b.
Lectures
c.
Sermons
d.
Addresses
e.
Dissertations
4.
Work of
Architecture[6]
5.
Performance[7]
6.
Sounds Recordings[8]
Exclusions from Copyright Infringement
Copyright protection shall not extend to
the following:[9]
1.
Idea, procedure, system, method or operation, concept,
principle, discovery or mere data as such, even if they are expressed,
explained, illustrated or embodied in a work
2.
news of the day
3.
other miscellaneous facts having the character of mere items
of press information
4.
any official text of a legislative, administrative or legal
nature, as well as any official translation thereof
Limitations on Copyright
Based on the “Doctrine of Fair Use”
under Sec. 185, “the 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.[10] It also covers decompilation or the
reproduction of the code and translation of the forms of a computer program to
achieve the interoperability of an independently created computer program with other
programs may also constitute fair use under the criteria established by this section,
to the extent that such decompilation is done for the purpose of obtaining the
information necessary to achieve such interoperability.”[11]
Libraries or archives whose
activities are not for profit can also make a limited number of copies for
fragile works, isolated articles for expedient purposes and for preservation
when the copy is no longer available with the publisher.
When authorized by the owner, 1 back-up
copy of a computer program can also be made if necessary for use of the
computer program and archival purposes.
Lack of Definition
of Copyright Infringement
Our Intellectual
Property Laws does not define what copyright infringement. It only defines who is liable for
infringement under Sec. 216. Copyright
infringement is so broad that it includes any violations of rights granted
under the law. Violations are committed
when you use the right for your own without the permission of the copyright
owner.
Rights
Granted
Rights
granted to the copyright owner includes:
1.
Copyright or economic right[12]
a.
Reproduction
b.
Dramatization,
translation, adaptation, abridgment, arrangement or other transformation
c.
First public distribution
d.
Rental
e.
Public display
f.
Public
performance
g.
Other
communication to the public[13]
2.
Moral Rights
a.
Attribution requirement (which lasts forever[14])
b.
Make any alterations prior to or withhold his work from
publication
c.
Object to any
distortion, mutilation or other modification of, or other derogatory action
against his work
d.
Restrain the use of his name restrain
the use of his name with respect to any work not of his own creation or in a
distorted version
Social Media
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, social
media are forms of electronic communication through which users create online
communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other
content.
How I Use Social Media
I
would classify myself as an active user of social media. I have several social blogs with different
niches. I make use of content sharing
sites such as: Scribd, SlideShare, Facebook, Linked In, Tumblr, Plurk, Twitter,
Dropbox and Google+. I made use of photo
sharing sites such as Pinterest and Instagram. I use bookmarking sites such as:
StumbleUpon, Delicious and Digg. I use
video sharing sites such as: YouTube, Vimeo and Daily Motion. I also engage in internet forums such as:
Girl Talk, Pinoy Money Talk, Pinoy Exchange and Philmug. I also use geo-location social media such as
Swarm and Foursquare. I use instant
messaging apps such as: Viber and Line.
I also post reviews and ratings on Tripadvisor.
Social Media a Medium for Copyright Infringement
Social makes it easier to communicate and disseminate copyrighted
works to the public in whatever data type: content or words, video, music and
image. You can simply upload documents
on Scribd and presentation slides on SlideShare. You can easier post statuses and share on Facebook, Linked In, Plurk on Google+. You can simply reblog on Tumblr or Retweet in
Tweeter. You can simply share any file
in massive sizes through Dropbox with its cloud technology. You can easily repin images on Pinterest or
regram on Instagram. You can upload
videos on YouTube, Vimeo and Daily Motion.[15]
Intellectual Property Law Stifling Social Media Usage
While the
passing of information is fast, easy and limitless through social media, the
lack of definition of copyright infringement and its broad coverage stifles
social media usage. In fact, it makes it
impossible for an average social media to avoid committing any acts of
copyright infringement.
Social Media
Behaviors that Lead to Copyright Infringements
Not all
social media users are aware that they are already committing copyright
infringements. If you observe policies
of social media such as Twitter[16]
and Facebook[17],
they hold the user liable for any content that they are sharing as they are the
source of authority. If a social media
user is not cautious, it could lead to certain liabilities.
I’ve been observing my social media
behavior and these are the copyright infringements which I could have possibly
committed. All of which involves a clear
communication to the public and reproduction.
First, I tend to share online viral
articles, collaged images and infographics on Facebook,
Linked In, Tumblr, Plurk, Twitter, Tumblr and Google+ that includes quotes from
movies, books and scripts, video remixes with background copyrighted music and copyrighted
movie and television scenes and clippings and Filipino amateur singers singing
in a mall karaoke of copyrighted songs and copyrighted photographs by amateur
and professional photographs. Mere
liking in Facebook, actually allows my friend to see it. Sometimes, it is also involuntary such as the
time when my accounts were sending spam messages to others without me
knowing.
Second, I make video blog or vlog about
my concert experiences or capture my activities and add my favorite songs as
background and upload them on YouTube, Vimeo and
Daily Motion. I also watch
Third, I use memes or movie gifs
and include them on my blog articles.
Fourth, I
love to repin on Pinterest the photos taken by others or regram them on Instragram.
Fifth, I
download from Scribd, Dropbox, 4shared and Utorrent.
Sixth,
using copyrighted images such as cartoon characters as avatars on internet
forums and social networking sites.
Seventh, I don’t
have control over the ads that appear on my social blogs. It can contain copyrighted music and images
that is communicated to my readers.
Solution to Avoid
Copyright Infringement
We really
have no choice but to accept our restrictive laws. It is better to adopt safety measures to
avoid the possible commission of copyright infringement as we can’t always rely
on the Doctrine of Fair Use to save as in case of suit.
The most
basic solution is to avoid making unnecessary disclosures. Think before you share. If you won’t gain anything from it, better
not do it.
For
bloggers like me, it’s best to verify what is authorized to be posted with the
author or event organizers. If you’re
blogging about actual experience, this tends to be difficult. But, if you’re invited to cover an event,
this is very easy to do. In fact, it’s
highly encourages by their public relations officer. You can also make use of press released
information which is excluded from copyright protection.
I also had
a blogger friend who was sued for a comment posted on his site which he refused
to take down. For now, the Philippine Court
does not consider comments as being published by the blogger and the case was
dismissed for lack of probably cause. I’d
still suggest that it is best to filter our comment contents published on our
sites as it may also contain copyrighted materials which could be attributed to
us.
Also read
social media policies prior to use just so you know the extent of your
liability.
Select and
use those with Creative Commons License applicable to your case. I highly recommend those with Attribution-ShareAlike
(CC BY-SA) so you are free to share or adapt (remix and transform) for any
purpose even commercially as long as you give attribution to the creator and
grant the same license.[18] You can also use the music offered by YouTube
on its Audio Library which are free as background.
Never ever
think that an attribution is sufficient, always ask for the permission of the
author or creator.
Be aware of
recent amendments regarding our Intellectual Property Laws as ignorance of the
law is not an excuse.
For
photographs, it’s best to upload your own photographs. But, be careful also not to capture copyrighted
works such as works of architecture, drawings, graphic and other information
that can’t be disclosed because then you’ll be committing a public display of copyrighted
works.
[1]
Sec. 172
[2]
Sec. 213
[3]
Sec. 172
[4] Sec. 173
[5]
Sec. 176
[6]
Sec. 186
[7]
Sec. 203
[8]
Sec. 203
[9]
Sec. 175
[10]
Sec. 185
[11]
Sec. 185.1
[12]
Sec. 177
[13]
Sec. 171
[14]
Sec. 198
[15]
Sec. 202.9
[16]
https://twitter.com/tos
[17]
https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms
[18]
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
