Songwriters decry illegal campaign jingles

MANILA, Philippines – Does that campaign jingle sound familiar?

A group of Filipino composers yesterday sought the assistance of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in monitoring the unauthorized or illegal use of songs for the May 9 elections.

Noel Cabangon, Filipino Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (FILSCAP) president, said they sought the help of the poll body in ensuring that the intellectual property (IP) rights of composers are protected when their songs are used as campaign jingles, an election staple.

“The issue is IP rights. When a song is used, they have to ask permission from the owner,” Cabangon said.

He said that in previous elections, there were candidates who violated the IP rights of various artists by using their songs in campaign jingles without their consent.

“There are those who are not aware of the copyrighted works. They still need to comply with them even during elections since they use the music when campaigning,” Cabangon pointed out.

Since the campaign period is set to start next week, Cabangon said they asked the Comelec to properly inform candidates on the need to respect IP rights of artists.

Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista, for his part, said they recognize the concern of the FILSCAP.

To address their concern, Bautista said the Comelec is looking into the possibility of forging a memorandum of agreement with the group and the Intellectual Property Office.