Textbook piracy hurting RP business image

The Philippines is now in the Priority Watchlist of the world’s most notorious intellectual property rights violators, a reputation which frightens many potential investors.

According to lawyer and leading intellectual property rights protection advocate Gilbert Reyes of the Poblador, Bautista and Reyes Law Offices, the inclusion of the country in the list "is the result of many years of being under the scrutiny of the global investor community." As a consequence, many potential investors have shelved or abandoned plans of setting up production facilities in the country due to the "extremely high risk that their products will be copied by pirates." These facilities could have generated thousands of jobs and revenues for the country.

In the Asian region, the Philippines is joined in the notorious list by Taiwan and Indonesia. Other countries in the priority watchlist are Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, European Union, Hungary, Israel, Russia and Uruguay.

"Inclusion in the list is like being hit with a travel advisory which says ‘Stay Away’," Reyes said.

The status also means the US Trade Representative will have to review the conditions of the country’s protection of intellectual property rights every year.

A growing menace

Current law enforcement activities against intellectual property rights violations are focused on so-called optical media. This includes the piracy of VCDs, DVDs and CDs.

Reyes said that while optical media is receiving a lot of attention, "there are other areas that are of interest to the international investor community that may have eluded law enforcers."

He said among these is the growing menace of textbook piracy. The problem began as a small-scale Xerox operation by University-belt shops. Reyes said this type of piracy "has become more complex with the advent of more sophisticated copying technologies."

The racket usually involves medical, scientific and technical books. Reyes estimates that the illegal reproduction of these materials now generates some P80 million in annual untaxed revenues for the textbook pirates.

The Philippines is now considered "the second biggest haven for textbook piracy in Asia."

Reyes disclosed that the illegal business is now participated in by big-time publishers. This is no longer just a ‘Recto’ operations," he said. In fact, some big publishers even take part in book exhibits to peddle their wares, he added.

Also alarming are reports that certain academic institutions and faculty members are themselves promoting and selling pirated copies of these textbooks. He said there are reports that students have been made "to feel obliged" to purchase these materials from their professors.

He also warned that some publishers "may be passing off the pirated versions as originals." This is due to the sophisticated reproduction of these businesses which can efficiently copy even colored transparencies in medical textbooks, he explained.

He lamented reports that the pirated versions passed off as originals are possibly being sold at prices equal to those of licensed textbooks.

Victimizing students

This is just one way that students are victimized by textbook piracy.

A worse consequence is the move of international publishers to boycott the Philippine market. Reyes said the growing menace has led many publishers "to keep new editions of their textbooks away from the Philippines, lest they be copied again by the illegal reproducers."

This means our medical, science and engineering students have lost access to newer editions of educational materials, he pointed out.

This could be a real setback to the quality of the education received by our students in this field, he added.

Government response

Reyes said there seems to be a perception in the international community that the government has not done enough to combat the piracy of intellectual property in all its forms.

Early this year, the US Trade Representative reported that "significant problems remain in ensuring adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights in the Philippines."

Legislation meant to implement the Philippines’ commitments under a global intellectual property agreement remains slow in coming, the report added. It also said the enforcement of existing laws to check piracy "had little deterrent effect on the extraordinary level of copyright piracy."

The obstacles to the effective enforcement of such laws include the low number of raids, insufficiently trained prosecutors and procedural and judicial delays, the report also said.

Reyes pointed out that such delays "may be exhausting the patience of the affected international investors." He expressed fear that such delays "may be due to perception on the part of some judicial and enforcement agencies that piracy has little or no effect on local business."

This is a tragic misperception, Reyes pointed out. We are losing a lot of investment, employment and tax revenue opportunities because of this menace.

He expressed hope that visible and decisive government response to the problem would stave off a possible inclusion in the dreaded blacklist, a step beyond the priority watchlist.

The international community is looking for signs that there is a serious war against piracy here, he added.