Publishing house denies copyright law charges

Concerned employees of SIBS Publishing House have denied allegations that their firm violated the copyright law by selling elementary and high school books copyrighted by Phoenix Publishing House.

In an unsigned letter sent to The STAR, the concerned employees said that their company would never pirate books just to make profits.

"SIBS Publishing House is a legitimate and highly reputable publishing house and will never go into the business of pirating books in order to make profits. We have taken great pains in producing high-quality textbooks in the desire to contribute to the improvement of the quality of education in our country. By resorting to illegal means, as alleged by the other parties involved, we would have defeated the very purpose of our mission," said the employees’ letter.

The concerned SIBS Publishing House employees added that for four years they had "sold Phoenix books legally," Phoenix Publishing House and SIBS Publishing House were owned by the late Jesus Ernesto Sibal.

"Thus, Phoenix’s claim that SIBS has been illegally selling Phoenix books is preposterous. Since Mr. Sibal’s untimely demise, we have experienced and hurdled a lot of challenges brought about by the separation of SIBS Publishing House and Phoenix Publishing House," the concerned SIBS employees said.

"Through the years that we have been with SIBS Publishing House under the guidance of Mr. Jesus Ernesto Sibal, we have witnessed how the company established a good reputation in the private school sector and earned its trust. SIBS Publishing House, Inc. does not publish illegally. We serve private schools directly with our sales personnel and customer service department," the concerned SIBS employees added. — Mike Frialde