Stop PH ‘culture of copying’

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

SINCE little or no infrastructure is required to develop creative industries, those in the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) Philippines believe a creative economy will succeed in the country.

However, IPO-Phils Director General Ricardo Blancaflor said the “culture of copying” among Filipinos needs to be addressed.

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Speaking at the first Cebu Creative Industries Summit yesterday, Blancaflor said a creative economy will not do well if the people do not respect copyrights and trademarks.

He urged other government and law enforcement agencies to seriously go after pirates and counterfeiters, saying the IPO-Phil alone cannot put a stop to this problem. He explained that even if he sees blatant displays of pirated materials, the IPO-Phils has no authority to apprehend any violator as this has been solely given to the Optical Media Board.

Enforcement powers

He was glad to note though, that a bill pending before the Senate giving his office enforcement powers has been passed on second reading.

Despite this, Blancaflor is optimistic the country, especially Cebu, can thrive in a creative economy, noting that creative industries, which rely on intellectual
property, survived in the midst of a global recession.

While most of the industries suffered, Blancaflor said creative industries posted an annual growth of 14 percent from 2002 to 2008.

For him, a creative economy will allow the Philippines to compete with more developed countries.

He noted that unlike other industries, creative industries make use of skills and talent.

However, he said skills and talent should come with the potential to create more jobs.

“If it will not produce wealth or jobs, it is not a creative industry. It’s just recreation,” Blancaflor told participants.

To successfully commercialize creations, Blancaflor said creators must go through the process of IP registration.

Copyright-based industries

Despite the absence of a bureau of copyrights, Blancaflor said 4.82 percent of the country’s gross domestic product came from copyright-based industries while 11.1 percent of employment is based on creative industries.

“This is one of the highest in the world, a figure shared only by Mexico. We are inclined to pursue that. We will go a long way with the support of government and market opportunity,” Blnacaflor explained.

He assured, though, that a bill pending before congress to create a bureau of copyrights has been passed on the third reading.

“We need it very badly,” he said.

Some sectors he identified as being under creative industries are in the areas of advertising, architecture, arts and antiquities market, crafts, design, fashion, film and video, performing arts, publishing, software development, TV and radio, and video and computer games.

Blancaflor added that if it has not already started, a creative economy for the country will start in Cebu.

“This is the decade of a creative economy and it will start in the Visayas,” he told participants.