“Respect for
copyright is respect for the human rights of authors,” said Alvin J.
Buenaventura, executive director of the Filipinas Copyright Licensing Society
(FILCOLS), before some delegates of the De la Salle University (DLSU) Student Media Congress last July 26.
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| Alvin J. Buenaventura |
Buenaventura’s
talk “Copyright made easy: 10 FAQs on Copyright” explained the basics of
copyright without the legal jargon. He spoke in Filipino and used everyday
examples the listeners are familiar with to make the concepts easy to
understand.
After the
opening and plenary sessions on July 25, the delegates signed up to different
workshops happening in different venues at the DLSU campus on SMC’s second day.
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| DLSU Yuchengco Hall, venue of the FILCOLS workshop "Beyond the Grave: Copyright for Young Authors" and other SMC workshops. |
Copyright: Pwede siyang ipamana
“Beyond the Grave: Copyright for Young Authors” is one of the workshops designed for photographers,
writers, and artists held at Room Y507, Yuchengco Hall. The focus is on the
property aspect of copyright and the fact that like land “pwede siyang
ipamana.” Copyright can be inherited. Copyright can be transferred to a son,
daughter, or parent by inheritance.
Buenaventura
explained that copyright is a bundle of rights made up of moral rights and
material rights (or economic rights). Moral rights refer to the right of the
author to put his/her name on the work and authorize changes to it. Material
rights refer to the right of the author to earn from what s/he produced.
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| The audience is made up of teachers, college, and high school students from different schools. |
International documents and
Philippine laws
To support
his claim that copyright is a human right, he cited international documents which
influenced the 1987 Philippine Constitution and the Intellectual Property Code
of the Philippines (IP Code or Republic Act 8293 as amended)
The
international documents are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
UDHR is the
common declaration for what humanity aspires for. It is not an international
treaty but is very influential in the creation of international and local laws
on fundamental human rights.
ICESCR is an
international treaty and enshrines some of the principles of the UDHR.
“We are aware
of the other voices in the debate which say that copyright should not be
elevated to the status of human rights and should remain as IP rights,”
Buenaventura said. But we strongly support the view that copyright is a human
right.
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| (l-r) FILCOLS staff Ricol Eseller, DLSU student Yeoj Magno, and author Bebang Siy. |
Right to work and just remuneration in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
From article
23 of the UDHR, we read the right to work, free choice of work, and just
remuneration so the worker and his/her family can live a life worthy of human
dignity.
(1) Everyone has the right
to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of
work and to protection against unemployment.
(2) Everyone, without any
discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
(3) Everyone who works has
the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his
family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by
other means of social protection.
(4) Everyone has the right
to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
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| DLSU students Jah Rosales, Mikhail Padilla, and Yeoj Magno. |
Right to work and just remuneration in the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
The “right to
work,” “just remuneration,” “a decent living for themselves and their
families,” and “right to form… and join trade unions…for the promotion and
protection of his economic and social interests” are echoed in articles 6, 7,
and 8 of ICESR.
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| Delegates from various schools. (First row, l-r) Adamson University delegates Franz Enriquez, Jan Súen, and --. (Second row, l-r) St. Paul's College of Makati delegate Ariane Lazaga, Mary Immaculate Parish Special School delegates Bella Corazon Tejano and Julia Buenafe. (Third row) Malayan College Laguna delegate Japs Concepcion. (Last row) DLSU delegate Marielle Zagada. |
Fundamental law in the Philippines
The 1987
Philippine Constitution states:
“The State
shall protect and secure the exclusive rights of scientists, inventors,
artists, and other gifted citizens to their intellectual property and
creations, particularly when beneficial to the people for such period as may be
provided by law.” (Sec. 3, Article XIV)
Copyright law in the Philippines: economic
(material) and moral rights
The IP Code (Republic Act 8293 as amended) states:
“The owners
of copyright and related rights or their heirs may designate a society
of artists, writers, composers, and other right-holders to collectively manage
their economic or moral rights on their behalf. For said societies to
enforce the rights of their members, they shall first secure the necessary
accreditation from the Intellectual Property Office.” (Sec. 183)
Universal Declaration of Human Rights: moral and material
(economic) interests
The UDHR
states:
“Everyone has
the right to the protection of the moral and material interests
resulting from any scientific, literary, or artistic production of which s/he
is the author.” (Art. 27.2)
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| Other delegates were from high schools in nearby cities. |
Manual workers and intellectual workers
Like manual
workers, authors of scientific, literary, and artistic works are also workers.
Authors are intellectual workers producing “cultural products.”
Like manual
workers, authors (writers and artists) have the right to work and receive just
remuneration. They have the right to choose to work as writers or artists.
Like manual
workers, writers and artists have to fend for themselves and care for their families.
Manual workers
have a right to form unions to promote and protect their economic and social
interests. Authors (intellectual workers) have a right to form “unions” or
societies “to collectively manage their economic (material) or moral rights.”
Minimum wage, just remuneration to have an existence worthy of human dignity
Companies
who fail to give the minimum wage violate the human rights of workers because
it affects the livelihood of real people.
Copyright is a human right
If we look
at writers and artists as intellectual workers deserving just remuneration for
their cultural products so they can ensure for themselves and their families “an existence
worthy of human dignity”
then it’s easier see that copyright is a human right.
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| Author Bebang Siy. |
As a single
mother, Siy supported herself and her son through her writings for years. She
wrote for various magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and websites to earn a
living. Together with college friends, she wrote horror stories and
inspirational stories for a local trade books publisher. At one time, she also
wrote erotic literature under a pseudonym. (Siy was married only recently)
She
encouraged the young writers with her own journey as an author.
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| Some of Bebang Siy's works. |
From working student to working as a
writer
Siy said “Hindi
madali maging manunulat. At hindi instant maging manunulat. Nag-aral ako ng
Malikhaing Pagsulat sa UP Diliman. Natapos akong cum laude habang
nagta-trabaho. Kumuha rin ako ng Masters sa Malikhaing Pagsulat.” (Its not easy to become a writer. You don’t
instantly become a writer. I studied Creative Writing at the University of the
Philippines Diliman. I graduated cum laude while working. I also took Masters
in Creative Writing.)
Hone writing skills through
workshops and lots of reading
She added “Maraming
workshops ang sinalihan ko para mahasa ang aking pagsulat. Marami rin akong
ginastos para makabili ng mga librong dapat basahin. Para maging magaling kang
manunulat, dapat ay masipag ka ring magbasa.” (I joined a lot of workshops to
hone my writing skills. I spent a lot on relevant books. You should be a
voracious reader if you want to become a good writer.)
Don’t sell all your copyright
She
encouraged the delegates to do what they love: take photos, create videos, or produce
literary outputs. “But remember that the copyright to your work is your
lifetime plus 50 years after your death. The protection is very long. The
potential to earn is very long. Remember copyright is a bundle of rights. So
don’t just sell all copyright to any publisher who likes to publish your work,”
she warned the young listeners.
Depriving her of royalties affect her
ability to provide for herself and her son
As explained
by Siy, it took many years and money to hone her writing skills. She invested
in her own craft. People who use her work should pay just remuneration. The
publisher should pay her proper royalties. If she is deprived of her right to
earn from what she produced, then it affects her livelihood and her capacity to
provide for herself and her son.
Siy is producing works and she deserve to earn from her copyright. Depriving her of right to earn is a violation to her right to provide an "existence worthy of human dignity" to herself and her son. Copyright is a human right.
Thus, when
end users or consumers of photos, films, or literary works fail to pay properly
they affect the livelihood of real people. Failure to provide just remuneration
to authors and artists is a violation their human rights.
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| Solar News video editor Pocholo Felix asks questions on social networks and copyright. |
The open forum discussed web
publishing, social networks, fair use
Web publishers’ who disregard the
livelihood of writers and photographers are engaging in slavery
Web publishers
who do not pay their writers or photographers violate human rights. The abuse
becomes glaring when the web publishers themselves receive payment from their
client corporations. These web publishers’ lack of regard for the livelihood of
authors may be a form of modern slavery.
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Bebang Siy receiving her certificate of appreciation from SMC's Cloie Mananquil
|
Social networks are in the territory
of the public but the works posted or uploaded are not in the public domain
Photos or
videos uploaded or articles or literary works posted on social networks is
available to the public to be seen or shared. To upload or post works online
means the public can easily access it.
Works publicly seen or shared on social
networks may be said to be in the domain (or territory) of the public.
However, “public
domain” is not the same as “in the domain of the public.”
Public
domain is a law-created world where works with expired copyright are placed
along with works that did not have any copyright to begin with (like works of
the government).
Works in the
public domain may be freely used. Anyone can make money from these works like
producing movies or TV series of Sherlock Holmes.
But works
posted or uploaded on social networks are protected by copyright. It is in the
territory of the public but it is not in the public domain. Thus, photos,
videos, articles or literary works on social networks should be respected.
Copyright
protection extends to works posted or uploaded on social networks. Copyright
extends to the internet. One should not re-use these works like re-publishing
them on a website or through physical publication like a magazine or book
without first asking permission from the author or copyright owner.
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| Alvin J. Buenaventura receiving his certificate of appreciation from SMC's Cloie Mananquil. |
Fair Use
There are
exceptions to the exclusive rights of authors. This is where fair use comes in.
For a clear explanation of fair use in relation to massive photocopying and scanning, please read Dr. Isagani R. Cruz’s column “Criminals in the classroom.”
Giving away one’s work for free
Since
authors have the exclusive right to their works (meaning they are the only
authority when it comes to their works), they may give their works away for
free. And no one, not even the law, is stopping them from giving their works
for free.
Some authors
give away their works for free similar to the marketing style of “free taste”
in supermarkets. But the ultimate aim is to whet the appetite of the consumers
so they will buy in the future. After all, we should think of the livelihood of
others. They need to earn like everyone else.
However, one
should not give away other people’s works for free unless the author gave him
or her authority to do so. One should not be generous with the property of
others.
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| Workshop facilitators and participants for Beyond the Grave: Copyright for Young Authors. |
FILCOLS expresses its gratitude to Joanna Queddeng of the DLSU - Student Media Office, DLSU students Isabel Biyo (AB OC), Maria Insigne (AB CA), and Cloie Mananquil (AB OC).
Text by Alvin J. Buenaventura. Photos by Ran Espiridion and SMC photographer. The article may be re-posted as long as the authors are acknowledged.
