PHILIPPINES Law and Practice Contributed by: Katrina Doble, Danielle Francesca San Pedro, Maria Patricia Cruz and Kyle Gino Salazar, Villaraza & Angangco
Copyright Infringement Under the Revised IP Code, copyright infringe - ment can occur through direct infringement, beneficial infringement or contributory infringe - ment. Beneficial infringement assumes that the infringer knew of the infringing activity and can control the activities of the direct infringer. Con - tributor infringement applies where the infringer knowingly induces, causes or materially contrib - utes to the infringing activity of another. The removal or alteration of any electronic rights management information from a copy of a work, sound recording or fixation of a perfor - mance knowingly and without authority, or the distribution, importation, broadcast or commu - nication to the public knowingly 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 awarded 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 pro - viders for infringing content. The Cybercrime Prevention Act provides a sepa - rate penalty for violations of the IP Code com - mitted by, through or with the use of information and communications 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-retail - ers and online merchants are primarily liable for indemnifying online consumers in civil actions or administrative 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 gravamen of trade mark infringement. It is pre - sumed 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 presumed to subsist in the work, and its ownership is presumed to belong to the com - plainant unless questioned 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 neces - sary 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 substan - tially 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 do so. It creates an opportunity to resolve the issue without costly and time-consuming litigation, and serves as notice to the infringer, which plays into the complainant’s entitlement to damages. Notably, mediation outside of litigation is now available through the IPOPHL but it is not a pre - requisite to filing an infringement case.
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