Friday, March 29, 2024

Bulacan school ordered to pay P608,450 for copyright infringement

The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), through the Bureau of Legal Affairs (BLA), said it has successfully enforced its judgment finding La Concepcion College, a private school based in San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan, liable for copyright infringement.

Photo credit: Facebook page of La Concepcion College
Photo credit: Facebook page of La Concepcion College

The case stemmed from the complaint filed by author and publisher Raymund Sta. Maria Catabijan, who said the school copied his work books and sold reproductions to its students.

Catabijan submitted pieces of evidence to the IPOPHL, who found the non-sectarian school guilty and ordered it to cease from publishing, selling, and distributing the books that contained the copied materials.

La Concepcion College was also ordered by the IPOPHL to pay Catabijan the total amount of P608,450.00 as damages.

A sheriff from the IPOPHL, with the assistance of the IPOPHL-IPR Enforcement Office and the Philippine National Police (PNP), served the writ of execution against the complainant last October 16.

Samples of the content of the respondent’s book vis-a-vis the complainant’s

Samples of the content of the respondent’s book vis-a-vis the complainant’s

IPOPHL director-general Ricardo R. Blancaflor, in a statement, acknowledged the school for abiding with the decision of the agency.

“This is a victory for the rule of law as far as intellectual property (IP) in the country is concerned,” said Blancaflor.

“The IPOPHL lauds the complainant’s effort to fight for his IP rights. What happened here only shows the need to continuously educate the public, including the schools, on IP. We will reach out to schools, like the respondent in this case,” he added.

Subscribe

- Advertisement -spot_img

RELEVANT STORIES

spot_img

LATEST

- Advertisement -spot_img