Senate panel backs move to amend IPCP

Sen. Mark Villar, chairman of the Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship. (Voltaire F. Domingo / Senate Social Media Unit)

SEN. Mark Villar, chairman of the Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship, has raised concern over the significant increase in counterfeiting and piracy activities during the lockdown, leaving local video producers, distributors and aggregators at the losing end.

During the April 30 hearing, various proposals to amend the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (IPCP) were discussed.

Villar cited a report presented by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (Ipophl) showing that incidents of counterfeiting and piracy have been increasing.

According to the report, incidents of piracy and counterfeiting have surpassed the number of reports and complaints filed from 2016 to 2020. Specifically, there has been a 40-percent increase in alleged piracy of movies and shows, a 25-percent increase in alleged piracy of e-books and a 16-percent increase in suspected piracy of software products.

“These numbers are very concerning as the losses outweigh the supposed benefit of providing entertainment to Filipinos,” Villar said, adding that the hearing aims to amend the IPCP and discuss the salient points needed to be refined to match the recent changes in the industry.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, who introduced Senate Bill (SB) 2150, said that piracy deeply hurts the creative industry, discourages production, affects the livelihood of its workers and significantly diminishes revenues from the sector.

He cited the unfortunate case of the 2020 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), which reportedly earned less than P50 million, a substantial loss from the billion-peso box office gross from the preceding years. The culprits were the massive piracy, illegal access and unlawful consumption of MMFF entries across cyberspace.

One film producer shared that they monitored illegal online streaming and found 10 to 20 links per hour.

Notably, the Covid-19 pandemic saw an unprecedented rise in film piracy in many countries. In the Philippines, illegal online links to Filipino movies that are still being shown in cinemas are also simultaneously and indiscriminately shared on social media platforms.

The Ipophl disclosed an “obviously striking surge” in counterfeiting and piracy activities in 2020, surpassing the number of reports and complaints received from 2016 to 2020. Movies and shows were most reported for alleged piracy (40 percent), followed by e-books (25 percent) and software products (16 percent).

A study showed that over 60 percent of Filipino consumers watch pirated content. The country has one of the highest piracy rates in Southeast Asia.

Proliferation of illicit activities significantly impedes the growth of the creative economy, leading to job losses and worker displacement.

Thus, Estrada emphasized the need for effective regulations and mechanisms to safeguard intellectual property rights.

SB 2150 proposes restricting access to online sites that facilitate copyright infringement and introduces preventive action and site-blocking procedures. It also recommends the imposition of higher fines from P5,000 to a minimum of P100,000 up to a maximum of P1,000,000 and an additional P10,000 for each day of continuing violation.