Each day these piracy websites are allowed to operate deprives rightful earnings for Filipino content creators
Stakeholders from the creatives industry have been clamoring for the passage of the “Online Site Blocking Act,” a priority legislation backed by no less than the President and recommended by the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) Digital Infrastructure Group.
The bill seeks to amend the six-decade old Intellectual Property Code to be more responsive to the rampant illegal streaming of copyrighted content by empowering the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines and Internet Service Providers to block piracy websites.
IPOPHL has been raising the alarm on online video piracy citing studies that show that if left unabated, video piracy could cause an estimated US$ 1 billion in annual revenue losses by 2027.
A 2022 study of independent research firm Media Partners Asia revealed that video piracy stole US$781 million from the Philippine video industry.
That’s how lucrative piracy operations have become and that is only from videos.
In 2020, during the height of mobility restrictions, the film industry’s estimated losses were at P11 billion.
Even before the pandemic the volume of cinema goers has been dipping because of the shift to digital streaming platforms as the safe entertainment medium during the pandemic years.
The industry persisted and showed resilience by quickly adopting production to online digital media but only to be preyed upon by piracy syndicates.
All forms of intellectual property are being targeted for piracy and substantially stealing the rightful income of original content creators of music, visual arts, developers of digital technologies, e-publications and all forms of copyrighted content.
The manufacturing and distribution ecosystems of branded products and consumers are also victims of counterfeiting rampantly sold online.
Piracy robs the creators and owners of intellectual property their right to legally earn from the hard work, time, talent, and resources that have been invested to produce content wherein society benefits from the new knowledge, utility, solutions, cultural enrichment, and of course, the entertainment value of their creations.
The persistent violation of the intellectual property rights of our content creators will be destructive to the potential of our country’s pool of creative talents that have the mind power, the heart and soul, and the passion for innovative thinking that we need in developing an innovation driven digital economy.
The latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (Q3 2023) shows real potential with, the entertainment, recreation, and arts sector contributing P52.8 billion in Gross Value-Added to the Philippine economy, a substantial 15.5 percent year on year growth.
The creatives sector emerged as the second top-performing economic sector in 2023, trailing only behind the accommodation and food service activities sector. It outperformed several key industries, underscoring the vast economic opportunities it presents.
These figures illustrate the immense capacity and potential of creative industries to generate significant economic value, resilience and adaptability despite the piracy risks and lack of support from government.
To the credit of Rep. Joey Salceda, his championing has expeditiously passed the House of Representatives version of the Online Site Blocking Act (House Bill 7600).
However, there seems to be some hesitation in the Senate as there are two pending bills, Senate Bill 2150 authored by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, and Senate Bill 2385 by Sen. Bong Revilla.
As convenor of consumer advocacy group CitizenWatch Philippines, I was part of the group of stakeholders representing the entertainment industry, ISPs, content creators, producers, and representatives from the Asia Video Industry Association, when Sen. Revilla filed his version of the bill during our rounds pushing for the bills to move.
These bills have been pending in the Senate Committee on Trade Commerce and Entrepreneurship Chaired by Sen. Mark Villar since last year and have yet to be scheduled for its first committee hearing.
As the Senate resumes sessions two weeks from now, we hope that Sen. Villar will finally call for a hearing and work with Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and Sen. Bong Revilla, two legislators who are products of the entertainment industry and are intimately aware of the urgency to accelerate the passage of the Online Site Blocking Law.
Each day these piracy websites are allowed to operate deprives rightful earnings for Filipino content creators and depresses the huge potential of the Philippine creatives industry.