The legal framework
Copyright is governed by Part IV of the Intellectual Property Code, Republic Act 8293. The term is the author's life plus fifty years. Fair use is recognised with four factors similar to the American test. The Intellectual Property Office operates an enforcement office and a deposit and recordation system that is useful as evidence.
The Philippines protects works for the author's life plus fifty years under the Intellectual Property Code, and the Intellectual Property Office has an enforcement office with powers to order site blocking for infringing websites — a fast administrative route that does not require a court. Fair use is recognised in a form modelled on the American doctrine, with the same four-factor analysis.
Key points
| Statute | Intellectual Property Code, RA 8293 |
|---|---|
| Term | Life plus 50 years |
| Fair use | Four-factor test, closely modelled on the American formulation |
| Recordation | Deposit with the National Library and IPOPHL as evidence |
| Enforcement | IPOPHL enforcement office; site blocking powers have been strengthened |
| Moral rights | Attribution and integrity, lasting for the term of economic rights |
| Site blocking | IPOPHL can direct blocking of infringing sites |
| Deposit | With the National Library and the Office, useful as evidence |
In practice
- Assume everything you find online is protected: absence of a copyright notice means nothing.
- Look for an explicit licence — Creative Commons, a stock licence, a written permission — and keep a copy of it.
- Credit alone is not a defence: attribution does not replace permission.
- For anything commercial, get permission in writing and keep it for as long as you use the work.
- Deposit significant works: the certificate is the practical proof of authorship.
Where to go
- Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines.
- National Library deposit service.
- FILSCAP and other societies.
Worth knowing
The Philippines applies a fair use test on the American model, which makes United States case law persuasive here — unusually among common law jurisdictions in the region. The four-factor fair use test follows the American model, which makes United States case law persuasive here — unusually for the region.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Philippines have fair use?
Yes, the Intellectual Property Code adopts a fair use provision with the familiar four factors: purpose and character, nature of the work, amount used and effect on the market. It is one of the few jurisdictions outside the United States with a genuinely open-ended exception.
Who owns a photograph of the two of us?
Copyright belongs to whoever pressed the shutter, not to the people in the picture — so a photograph taken by a friend or a wedding photographer is theirs unless the contract says otherwise. Being in the image gives you a separate claim based on privacy or personality rather than copyright. If you want to use wedding photographs freely, negotiate a licence in writing before the day, not afterwards.
Official sources and links
- gov.ph — official government portal