Ayala Foundation, FILCOLS celebrate Philippine Book Development Month 2016

The Filipinas Copyright Licensing Society, Inc. (FILCOLS) and Ayala Foundation will celebrate Philippine Book Development Month 2016 with a simple event from 1 to 4 p.m. on Friday, 25 November at the Ground Floor Lobby, Ayala Museum, Makati City.

“FILCOLS Distribution for Rightsholders and Partnership with Ayala Foundation” will signal the start of distribution of remuneration for authors, heirs of authors, and publishers. The bulk of the license fees collected by FILCOLS were from the Department of Education (DepEd) for the re-use of Filipino works in the learning resources for Grades 2, 3, 8, and 9. 

Recognizing the need to support Filipino authors and other copyright owners, Ayala Foundation, a revered name among corporate foundations, will sign a licensing agreement with FILCOLS for the secondary use of works through mass digital and photocopying inside the Filipinas Heritage Library and the Ayala Museum. A small license fee will be paid on a two-year period which will then be distributed to righstholders after deducting FILCOLS’s administration costs.

Established in 1961 and renamed in 1990, Ayala Foundation is the social development arm of the Ayala Corporation. Committed to improve the lives of Filipinos, Ayala Foundation embarked on innovative programs for education, leadership, livelihood, arts, and culture.

FILCOLS is the government accredited collective management organization (CMO) in the text and image sector. FILCOLS supports the publishing industry by licensing the secondary use of copyrighted works for mass uses inside institutions.

Aside from the license fees collected from DepEd, FILCOLS will also distribute remuneration it received from its sister societies abroad. Australia’s Copyright Agency-Viscopy and the Copyright Licensing and Administration Society of Singapore (CLASS) remitted to FILCOLS, on various dates, remuneration for Filipino works used by their licensees. 

Under Australian and Singaporean copyright law, institutions must pay license fees for the re-use, through large-scale digital and photocopying, of books, journals, newspapers, and websites. Under these institutions are schools, universities, technical vocational (tech-voc) or polytechnic, businesses, government, and other organizations.

FILCOLS was established in 2008 by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, National Book Development Board, Book Development Association of the Philippines, and the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas. Its founding chair was National Artist for Literature Virgilio S. Almario.

FILCOLS is currently headed by its chair Dr. Jose Y. Dalisay, Jr. Other Trustees are Ricky Lee, Karina Bolasco, Beverly Siy, Dr. Rebecca Anonuevo, Dr. John Jack Wigley, Marne Kilates, and Jose Paolo Sibal. The Secretariat is led by executive director Alvin J. Buenaventura.

Text and photos by Alvin J. Buenaventura. This may be re-posted as long as the author is acknowledged.

DepEd seminar on the development of Grades 2 and 8 learning resources

In a move to equip publishers with better understanding of copyright, the Philippines' Department of Education recently conducted a two-day orientation-seminar at the DepEd headquarters in Pasig City.

Alvin J. Buenaventura discussed "Secondary Use of Copyrighted Works from the Internet" before officers of the education department and 52 representatives from 28 publishing houses.

Buenaventura before DepEd officials and private sector publishers. (Photo by DepEd staff).

Buenaventura is the Executive Director of the the Filipinas Copyright Licensing Society, Inc., the collective management organization in the text and image sector operating in the Philippines. FILCOLS licenses the re-use of copyrighted printed materials of its member-authors and publishers.

Due to the urgent need to provide learning materials for the government's then new K to 12 program, the DepEd signed a license agreement with FILCOLS in 2013 so it can include poems, stories, comics, and other works for the Grade 1 and 7 Teachers' Guides and Learners' Materials.

Buenaventura explained how a CMO like FILCOLS operates. And provided a picture of how other CMOs cooperate through the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations (IFRRO), the world's umbrella organization for CMOs, authors' and publishers' associations.

Buenaventura emphasized the need to respect the rights of authors. (Photo by DepEd staf).

He also stressed that the default mode of every one when it comes to works on the internet is that they have copyright. Texts, images, and music found online should be respected and not just used without asking permission from the copyright owner.

Unless the website expressly states that their content may be used freely, everyone should remember that copyright extends online.

Atty. Louie Andrew Calvario of the Intellectual Property Office of the Phiippines (IPOPHL) discussed "Copyright Issues and Concerns" prior to Buenaventura's presentation.

The event was organized by the Bureau of Learning Resources led by Dr. Edel B. Carag and Dr. Dina S. Ocampo, DepEd's undersecretary for curriculum and instruction.

The seminar mainly aims to help publishing houses get a clear picture of the "standards, specifications, evaluation and procurement procedures" of the DepEd to help them produce learning resources for the public schools.

Click here to view the Program of Activities

FILCOLS inks First Licensing Agreement with Government Agency

The Filipinas Copyright Licensing Society, Inc. (FILCOLS) signed its first licensing agreement with the government’s Department of Education last 5 December 2012. FILCOLS chair Dr. Isagani R. Cruz and DepEd secretary Br. Armin A. Luistro, FSC signed the agreement at the Bulwagan ng Karunungan (Knowledge Hall), DepEd Complex, Pasig City.

Signing of the licensing agreement between FILCOLS and the Philippine Department of Education. (l-r) FILCOLS executive director Alvin J. Buenaventura, DepEd secretary (minister) Br. Armin A. Luistro, FSC, and FILCOLS chair Dr. Isagani R. Cruz. (Photo by OSEC)

The Department (Ministry) of Education is the largest bureaucracy in the country with 647,299 employees scattered in 17 regions. These are mainly teachers handling 21.49 million students for the 2012-2013 school year.  The enrolees for this school year are 1.73 million in kindergarten, 14 million in elementary, and 5.76 million in secondary.

For 2013, the Department of Education has been allocated PHP 292.7 billion (USD 17 billion or EURO 12.6 billion). The education department receives the largest allocation from the government budget.

Earlier in May 2012, Br. Armin wrote to Dr. Cruz to tell him that the Department does not have “significant funds” for copyright fees. However, he acknowledged the right of authors to just remuneration for the use of their creations.

Prior to his appointment as Education Secretary (Minister), Br. Luistro was the president of the De la Salle University – Manila. He is a member of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, a Roman Catholic religious congregation dedicated to provide a human and Christian education.

FILCOLS is the Philippine collective management organization (CMO) in the text and image sector incorporated in 2008 as a not for profit organization. The society is a member of the Brussels-based International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations (IFRRO) since 2009.

FILCOLS was the product of the cooperation among government and rightsholders associations namely National Book Development Board (NBDB), Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IP Philippines), Book Development Association of the Philippines (BDAP), and the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL – Writers’ Union of the Philippines).

BDAP initially funded FILCOLS in 2008-2009. BDAP is the country’s largest book industry association and organizer of the annual Manila International Book Fair since 1979. UMPIL is the largest association of Filipino writers. 

FILCOLS received support, both technical and financial, from various Norwegian rightsholders organizations and from the Norwegian government through the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD). From 2010-2012, NORAD provided grants for FILCOLS together with Kopinor, the reproduction rights organization (RRO) of Norway; and the Norwegian Copyright Development Association (NORCODE). 

Cruz was a founding board member of FILCOLS. In 2010, the general membership of FILCOLS elected him chair. He taught at the De la Salle University – Manila for 38 years and also headed its publishing arm. After his retirement from DLSU, he became president of The Manila Times College at the beginning of 2011. 

The Manila Times College was the first private college licensee of FILCOLS. TMTC signed the agreement last July 30.

Witnesses to the FILCOLS-DepEd signing were FILCOLS executive director Alvin J. Buenaventura and IMCS director Socorro A. Pilor. The Instructional Materials Council Secretariat is an office under the Department of Education tasked with developing the learners’ materials and teachers’ guides.