Passage of anti-online piracy bill pushed

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos should certify as urgent the passage of anti-online piracy legislation now pending in the Senate to address online piracy, a consumer advocacy group said.

CitizenWatch Philippines co-convenor Tim Abejo said the 26-year-old Intellectual Property Code needs to be amended to respond to context of a digital online platforms.

“We need to boost the creative economy, prevent opportunity loss, protect the interest of the Philippines’ rich and diverse talent pool, and even shield our citizens, especially the vulnerable, from online predators. Online piracy harms the viability of the creative sector and undermines the values and creative spirit of our people,” he said.

“It also unduly incentivizes those whose only contribution is to find ways to profit from what is not theirs to begin with.”

Electronic and online content are currently not included in the IP Code’s definition of pirated goods.

House Bill 7600, which seeks to amend the IP Code – most notably in allowing authorities to block sites that provide pirated content – was approved last May at the House of Representatives. The bill gives authority to the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHIL) to block websites that violate the IP Code and expands its enforcement functions to investigate, gather intelligence, and develop countermeasures to piracy. It also establishes guidelines for internet service providers in blocking websites hosting pirated material.

A counterpart bill at the Senate has yet to be passed, even as at least one version sponsored by Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. proposes a definite timeline of five days for IPOPHIL to process piracy complaints by content owners.

“Pirates are fast and cunning. We must be faster and more aggressive. We can’t be stuck deliberating whether the present mechanisms are enough. While we are still talking about all these, these pirates and violators are already on their next move and profiting from their criminal acts.” Abejo said.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority show that the creative industry is a vital contributor to gross domestic product, accounting for approximately 7.3 percent or P1.6 trillion of gross value added in 2022.

This figure, however, is already lower than the 7.5 percent share reported in 2018, primarily due to piracy.

The local film industry, specifically, has borne the brunt of online piracy, even as it is already struggling to compete with foreign productions and streaming platforms. A 2018 report by the Motion Picture Association (MPA) revealed that online piracy caused a 47 percent decline in box office sales and a 72 percent drop in legitimate online transactions in the Philippines from 2012 to 2016.

The pandemic lockdowns enabled the pirates to gain heavily, with an estimated P1 billion in potential revenue losses to local video producers, distributors and aggregators, according to Media Partners Asia in 2020.

“Instead of finding right value for their work and being compensated commensurately for it, those in the creatives industry continue to struggle against economic realities aggravated further by online piracy,” Abejo said.