Illegal streaming, piracy killing PH film industry: govt-business-industry 

The government’s vanguard of intellectual property rights, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) with the movie industry and the telecommunications sector, banded together this week to denounce illegal streaming - which gave birth to ‘plug and play infringement’ - as a common dilemma that  must be stamped out.

In a press conference held Friday, the IPOPHL, the Motion Picture Association, the Film Development Council of the Philippines,  with telco giant Globe and Motion Picture Anti-Film Piracy Council brought together their staunchest advocates against film piracy to speak on the emerging ways technology has put the film industry at risk. 

Among these new venues, said IPOPHL Director General Josephine R. Santiago, is through the use of illegal streaming devices.  These devices allow access to content streams found in the Internet like live media broadcasts or content on demand, whether free-to-access or paid.

Streaming devices, by themselves are not illegal. They  become so when they are modified through software that allows the streaming of pirated content from the internet, said IPOPHL Director General Josephine R. Santiago. 

These ‘ISDs’ have given birth to a nascent illegal activity of ‘plug and play infringement’.

“Our enforcement division is intensifying collaboration with online intermediaries, including online marketplaces on whose platforms these devices are sold, to discuss preventive measures. We must join forces in making the public aware of theplug and play infringement that these ISDs promote,” Director General Santiago added. 

“Times bring in change, both bad and good. Technology is now the poster child of change. Even with technology changing the industry, it’s important to recognise the hard work and depth of creativity poured into each film. It is not only the actors producers involved. A lot of unseen individuals, without whom, the work cannot be completed, are being affected too. We should protect all of them,” asked Atty. Joji Alonso, a film producer and official of the Motion Pictures Anti-Film Piracy Council (MPAFPC) said. 

Senior Vice President for Globe Telecom, Yolanda Crisanto, underlined their responsibility to be at the forefront of the campaign against film piracy, being an internet service provider. 

“This is our responsibility. The fact that we are not only giving the actual devices, but also access to the medium for which users obtain the pirated content, gives us all the more reason to aggressive about film piracy, and access to illegal content in general,” Ms. Crisanto said. 

Ms. Crisanto spearheaded Globe’s #PlayItRight campaign - a wide-spread drive against illegal content - cutting more than 2,000 illegal sites that hosted lewd content and child pornography. 

Apart from the social aspect, accessing infringing content also exposes the users to malware that puts his data privacy at risk, Ms. Crisanto underlined. 

Speaking for the government agency promoting local films, Ms.  Liza Dino of the Film Development Council of the Philippines lamented the paltry admission numbers in cinemas can be attributed to the spread of piracy. 

“Admissions in 2017 is at 51.5 million. For a population of 104 million, that’s very low, about 14-18 percent. Piracy is a big contributor to the low admission count, and more so on the decrease in cinema revenues. This is a significant insight, especially as the local film industry contributes around P 11 billion to the national output,” Ms. Dino pointed out.

All stakeholders present agreed that the entire chain of workers in industries related to film-making are suffering from the ongoing copyright infringement and piracy. 

“Like what our partners have mentioned, this copyright infringement and piracy, impact not just the actors, producers, and directors, but all of the professions involved in the making of a movie, from your musical score composer to the make-up artists and film crew are being devalued,” Atty. Santiago ended.

According to a 2014 study commissioned by the World Intellectual Property Organization and carried out by IPOPHL and other government agencies, copyright-based industries contributed 14.14 percent of total Philippine employment in 2010. In terms of GDP, the contribution is at 7.34 percent of the GDP based on 2010 data.