THE FILIPINO Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, Inc. (FILSCAP) and the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) have reiterated their call to candidates in the May midterm elections to abide by copyright rules when using music for campaigning. FILSCAP reported on Tuesday that most candidates are unaware that the use of copyrighted music, whether restructured as a jingle or in original form, in public events requires a license. “Generally, there are three copyright licenses that must be secured by political candidates who intend to use copyrighted music: one, a modification or adaptation license if the lyrics of a copyrighted song will be changed or modified to make a campaign jingle; two, a reproduction license if a copyrighted song will be recorded or copied (whether the lyrics are revised or not), and the third, a public performance license if a copyrighted song will be played to the public as campaign jingle, or as entertainment or background music during a campaign rally or event,” FILSCAP’s legal counsel Michael Hernandez said in a statement. FILSCAP is accredited by IPOPHL to license copyrighted music used in public activities. The organization licenses the public use of 20 million foreign and local music or 95% of copyrighted music used within the Philippines. As of last week, FILSCAP reported that senatorial bet Christopher “Bong” T. Go and Pasay mayoralty candidate Jon Wilfred “JT” D. Trinidad are the only ones who have secured a public performance license from FILSCAP to play copyrighted music in their respective campaigns. FILSCAP said they have already contacted candidates who have yet to secure a license. “(A) candidate engaged in the unlicensed or unauthorized public playing of copyrighted music could be held civilly and criminally liable for copyright infringement,” FILSCAP said, citing Republic Act No. 8293, or the Philippine Intellectual Property Code. — Gillian M. Cortez

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