IP Philippines holds workshop to create
first collection society for the visual arts

“One of our strategic goals for the year is to institutionalize our Copyright Support Services, which includes helping artists form collection societies to manage their copyright royalties similar to what FILSCAP is doing for musicians,” Atty. Adrian S. Cristobal, Jr., Director General of IP Philippines, said.

Copyright governs the creative industries from paintings to literature, publishing, recording, film, broadcast media, print media, and many others. The workshop tackled issues particular to the visual arts community.

During the workshop, Atty. F.D. Nicholas Pichay, an artist and legal practitioner, discussed basic copyright in the visual arts. “This topic can shed light on some misconceptions about copyright. An example is that one must apply and register from a government agency to obtain a document certifying one’s copyright. This is false because original artistic and literary works are protected from the moment of their creation,” Cristobal said.

Cristobal added that the registration and deposit of copies of copyrighted work in the National Library and the Supreme Court Library are for the records of the National Library and the Supreme Court Library, and as evidence of ownership if the need arises. This must not be construed as a means to acquire copyright.

Albert Avellana, owner and curator of the Avellana Art Gallery , presented an assessment of the visual arts market in the Philippines . Ang Kwee Tiang, regional director of CISAC in the Asia-Pacific Region, discussed the basic principles of collective management of rights. Ang identified several factors on why is there a need for the collective management of rights: the lack of an effective monitoring system for the creator to identify, monitor and negotiate with the users; foreign usage; economies of scale; discrimination of individual creators and; the difficulty of setting standard tariff rates.

Carola Streul, Secretary General of the European Visual Artists (EVA) presented the collective management of rights in the visual arts, and explained the “Droit de Suite”. Streul and Chryssy Tintner, Chief Executive Officer of the Visual Arts Copyright Collecting Agency (Viscopy), discussed the administration of rights in visual arts in the digital environment.

In Tintner’s presentation, she outlined the following benefits of a visual arts collecting society: collective muscle in the negotiation of licenses and royalties, and their appropriate distribution; infringement services to members when their works are improperly used or attributed and; necessary advocacy for visual artists when IP and copyright legislation requires reform.

In line with its commitment to support the creative industries, IP Philippines also unveiled the Alab Art Space in the office’s ground floor early this year. The art space, an expression of IP Philippines’ commitment in support of the creative industries, has an ongoing exhibition entitled diwang: Celebrating Creativity. Diwang, participated in by some 17 established visual artists, forms part of the anniversary activities of the office to commemorate the 10 th year of the IP Code, the law that created IP Philippines.