IPO Philippines in cooperation with International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CSAC) had jointly organized the Seminar-Workshop on the Collective Administration of Visual Arts in the Philippines which I attended recently (originally scheduled last June 29). The seminar was held as part of the 10th year of Intellectual Property Code (or RA 8293) with the theme “Celebrating Creativity.”
Three foreign speakers shared their invaluable knowledge and expertise: Mr. Ang Kwee Tiang, Regional Director of CSAC Asia-Pacific Region talked about Basic Principles of Collective Management of Rights; Ms. Carola Streul, Secretary General of European Visual Artists and General Manager of OnLineArt discussed Collective Management of Rights in the Visual Arts, The Droit de Siute, and the Administration of Rights in Visual Arts in the Digital Environment while Ms. Chryssy Tintner, CEO – Visual Arts Copyright Collecting Agency (Viscopy) for Australia & New Zealand talks about Direct Licensing and Book and Magazine Publishers, Museums and Educational Institutions, Licensing and Enforcement of Primary Uses of Rights in the Visual Arts – The Practice in other Countries and its Applicability in the Philippines. Filipino counterparts are Atty. F.D. Nicolas Pichay who talked about Copyright in the Visual Arts and Mr. Albert Avellana, owner and curator of Avellana Art Gallery who talked about The Visual Arts Market in the Philippines.
It is interesting to note that VISCOPY Australia has 7,000 professional visual artist members, comprising of fine artists, sculptors, photographers, cartoonists, illustrators, designers and a number of high end architects. 40% of their members are Indigenous visual artists (Aborigines) which speak a total of 38 languages. Viscopy also represent over 250,000 International artists for the territory of Australia, both exclusively through their 42 CISAC affiliates. They have started with only two staff and now have eight permanent staff running the Collective Society.
More than ever, copyright infringements are now rampant with the growth of the digital market and ease of access to the internet – be it music, digital photographs, illustrations and other form of creative work to the detriment of its creator/ author. These infringements were done by various levels of users including magazine and newspaper publishers, advertising companies, and individuals. Even schools are guilty of this – it was noted that schools usually use copyrighted materials (photo and literary work) in their academic packs. The author is usually at the mercy of these companies who make money out of their creation. In the Philippines, artists and authors have no collective voice, which find themselves in a difficult position to pursue these infringers. Of course, with the exception of musicians who, through FILSCAP, was able to track down and pursue cases against copyright violators.
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