PHILIPPINES Law and Practice Contributed by: Katrina Doble, Danielle Francesca San Pedro, Edward King Chua and Maria Patricia Cruz, Villaraza & Angangco
Copyright Infringement Under the IP Code, copyright infringement can occur through direct infringement, beneficial infringement or contributory infringement. Beneficial infringement assumes that the infringer knew of the infringing activ - ity and can control the activities of the direct infringer. Contributor infringement applies where the infringer knowingly induces, causes or materially contributes to the infringing activity of another. The removal or alteration of any electronic rights man - agement information from a copy of a work, sound recording or fixation of a performance knowingly and without authority, or the distribution, importation, broadcast or communication to the public knowing - ly of works with their electronic rights management information removed or altered without authority, will result in the imposition of the maximum penalty for copyright infringement and the doubling of the award - ed damages. Piracy over the internet is separately punishable under Republic Act No 8792, also known as the Electronic Commerce Act of 2000. The same law prescribes the grounds for liability of service providers for infringing content. The Cybercrime Prevention Act provides a separate penalty for violations of the IP Code committed by, through or with the use of information and communi - cations technologies, which is one degree higher than the penalty provided in the IP Code. Under Republic Act No 11967, also known as the Internet Transactions Act of 2023, e-retailers and online merchants are primarily liable for indemnify - ing online consumers in civil actions or administra - tive complaints arising from internet transactions. Meanwhile, the e-marketplace or digital platform that facilitated the transaction shall be subsidiarily liable if it failed, after notice, to remove or disable access to infringing goods/services/content. 7.3 Factors in Determining Infringement The element of likelihood of confusion is the grava - men of trade mark infringement. It is presumed where an identical sign or mark is used for identical goods or services. Otherwise, the court will consider the
general impression of the ordinary purchaser buying under the normally prevalent conditions in trade, and giving the attention that such purchasers usually give in buying the relevant class of goods. In copyright infringement cases, copyright will be pre - sumed to subsist in the work, and its ownership is presumed to belong to the complainant unless ques - tioned by the defendant. Infringement occurs where any of the exclusive economic rights of the owner is exercised by another without consent. While it is not necessary that the whole or even a large portion of the work is used or copied, if so much is taken that the value of the original is sensibly diminished, or the labours of the original author are substantially and to an injurious extent appropriated by another, it shall constitute piracy. 7.4 Prerequisites and Restrictions to Filing a Lawsuit Prior notification to the alleged infringer is not required before an IP infringement case can be instituted, but it is common practice to provide it. It creates an opportunity to resolve the issue outside litigation, and serves as notice to the infringer, which plays into the complainant’s entitlement to damages. Notably, medi - ation outside of litigation is now available through the IPOPHL but it is not a prerequisite to filing an infringe - ment case. 7.5 Lawsuit Procedure Administrative actions for infringement are filed with the BLA and are governed by the Rules and Regu - lations on Administrative Complaints for Violation of Laws Involving IP Rights, as amended, supplemented by the Rules of Court. The filing fees for an administrative complaint depend on whether the complainant is a small entity or a big entity: a small entity complainant has assets worth PHP100 million or less, while a big entity complain - ant has assets over PHP100 million. The basic filing fee is PHP15,000 for small entities and PHP19,200 for big entities. An additional filing fee equivalent to one-tenth of 1% of the damages claimed must be paid if the damages claimed exceed PHP500,000. Meanwhile, the estimated costs for legal representa -
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