Politicians must ask permission before using someone else’s work in their campaign jingles—an offer that an artist can turn down even if the price is high, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) said on Thursday. IPOPHL director general Rowel Barba issued the statement reminding candidates to ask for the owner’s permission to use copyrighted work, such as music, photos and videos in their political ads.
“Even as candidates are willing to pay a handsome fee, they first and foremost have to ask copyright holders’ permission to use their works in their political ads, and respect their decision if their proposals are turned down because [the artists] refuse any association [with] a certain political party,” he said.
Barba said campaign jingles had been the biggest source of infringement complaints in past election seasons. The Inquirer asked IPOPHL for the latest number of election-related copyright complaints, but the agency has yet to reply.
Fair compensation
He said getting permission could be as simple as messaging the artist on social media, after which the artist should then have fair compensation.
Barba also noted that copyrighted songs used in sorties or motorcades might also require a fee. The agency encouraged aggrieved artists to use social media platforms “to enforce their IP rights, whether by demanding a fee or requesting a takedown of infringing content.”
Public awareness
He said the public was now becoming more aware of intellectual property rights and violating those rights could come at the expense of losing supporters.
“In the past, electorates would learn about copyright and IP due to infringement issues that candidates would be embroiled in. Hopefully, this election season will be different in that candidates respect and promote respect for IP rights instead of stealing them,” he said.
The right to refuse the communication of a work to the public is part of the economic and moral rights granted to copyright holders by the Intellectual Property Code of 1997, IPOPHL said.
To use a song or any audio recording, candidates can also reach out to the relevant IPOPHL-accredited collective management organizations (CMOs) so they can ask permission from the music copyright owners or to negotiate a fee.
These CMOs are the Filipino Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Inc., the Philippines Recorded Music Rights Inc. and the Independent Music Producers of the Philippines.