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LINK: ‘Note Verbale‘, Manila Times (Sunday-Career Section) – 1 April 2007 Issue

Prior to the introduction of the movable type printing press by German goldsmith and inventor, Johannes Gutenberg, in 1450, there was no economic incentive for pirating written works. It was also very expensive and painstakingly slow to copy manuscripts by hand.

But the printing press changed altogether this environment and the protection of written works considered as intellectual property became a noteworthy concern of states.  And so at the instigation of French novelist, poet and playwright, Victor Hugo, and the association of literary artists that he founded in 1878, an international agreement called the “The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works” was born in Berne, Switzerland on September 9, 1886.

Creation, distribution and usage are the usual processes involved in any intellectual property governed by copyright particularly written works. Creation would mean how the written work would be fixed in some tangible medium. Distribution is how the tangible medium of expression would be put in circulation for the general public to use usually upon payment of some consideration.

The development of earlier technologies like phonograms, radio, television, film and home video gave a new face on the manner by which an intellectual creation are created, distributed and used. These technologies became an alternative medium of expression in addition of course to the usual printing and publication. Verily, the copyright regime did not have much difficulty addressing these innovations to protect the rights of creators, publishers or distributors.

But all of a sudden, the emergence of user interface in digital technology, or the ability of computers to communicate online in a network, brought about a paradigm shift. 

Many creators and authors are able to take advantage of cyberspace to publish and distribute their own works through websites and blogs without the usual intervention of publishers, printers and distributors. They say that this promotes greater access to knowledge.

On the other hand, some publishers and distributors of written works also joined the bandwagon to catch up with technological developments by publishing books on line in electronic format known as ‘e-books’ or distributing written works using the Internet as a marketing tool. But others think that this technology would drive them away from their usual business.

The biggest challenge though that online technology poses is on digital copyright. With the ease of uploading and downloading files in whatever format in the computer network, there is much difficulty regulating or controlling how a work of intellectual property is distributed and used. How the copyright regime would evolve to effectively address online piracy and infringement is now a serious global concern.
 
As part of the effort, the Philippine Intellectual Property Office led by its Director-General Adrian S. Cristobal Jr. with the assistance Atty. Louie Andrew C. Calvario of its Copyright Support Services in partnership with the Japan Copyright Office and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) represented by Geidy Lung and Kentaro Sugiura just concluded this week the “Sub-Regional Roundtable on Copyright-Based Business: Authorship, Publishing and Access to Knowledge.”

The major issue that local and foreign participants sought to address was the identification of key strategies towards the development of publishing industries and access to knowledge. The forum included presentations on new models in the digital environment like Creative Commons and reprographic rights organizations.

It would obviously take the stakeholders a lot of time, patience and efforts to address nagging issues confronting copyright vis-à-vis Internet technology. 

The information technology revolution however is not something to be afraid of or be perceived as a necessary evil.  It should be taken both as an opportunity and challenge in fostering access to knowledge, the formation of new business models, and bringing about a positive global culture.

After all, any human endeavor, like law, should be taken as technology neutral.