IPOPHL unveils projects to revive creative sector

MANILA, Philippines — The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) has unveiled projects with about P1.2 million in funding to revive the creative economy.

In a statement, the IPOPHL said the projects are funded under the Copyright Plus Program of the Bureau of Copyright and Related Rights (BCRR), targeted to help creators gain from copyright and protection of works through registration.

“Our Copyright Plus Program will be a major enabler in equipping Filipino artists with sufficient knowledge on the full breadth of their copyright and related rights. It will fulfill the pursuit of our President Marcos, Jr., who reiterated in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) the need to accelerate the recovery of Philippine artists,” IPOPHL director general Rowel Barba said.

In his SONA, Marcos said the creative industry faces many challenges, including intellectual property rights.

“We require an institutionalized creative industry that will advance the interests of its stakeholders,” he said.

Barba said the IPOPHL would help in promoting the creative industry and uplifting Filipino artists.

BCRR director Emerson Cuyo said the Copyright Plus projects are “inclusive of sectors who bring distinctive elements to their own crafts.”

Projects under Copyright Plus seek to enable writers, dancers and painters. These include coming up with a book on protecting writer’s works that provides answers to the most common IP-related questions of the book industry, as well as the production of an animated documentary about developing creativity, original ideas and IP rights protection and awareness.

Cuyo urged artists to submit proposals for potential Copyright Plus projects.

Proposals will be accepted until Aug. 5.

Aside from the Copyright Project, Cuyo said the BCRR is also expected to be part of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s initiative seeking to help address the impact of the pandemic on education, particularly in remote areas of least-developed and developing countries through access to textbooks and other educational reference materials.

“We continue to fight the battle against lack of IP rights information. In this fight, we believe that our incremental steps, such as Copyright Plus, sharing the stories of local artists and helping facilitate access to educational books, will contribute to the change we want for the balanced protection of copyright and IP rights as a whole,” he said.