CHAPTER  XVII

INFRINGEMENT

SEC. 216. Remedies for Infringement

       216.1. Any person infringing a right protected under this law shall be liable: 

            (a) To an injunction restraining such infringement. The court may also order the defendant to desist from an infringement, among others, to prevent the entry into the channels of commerce of imported goods that involve an infringement, immediately after customs clearance of such goods. 

            (b) Pay to the copyright proprietor or his assigns or heirs such actual damages, including legal costs and other expenses, as he may have incurred due to the infringement as well as the profits the infringer may have made due to such infringement, and in proving profits the plaintiff shall be required to prove sales only and the defendant shall be required to prove every element of cost which he claims, or, in lieu of actual damages and profits, such damages which to the court shall appear to be just and shall not be regarded as penalty. 

            (c) Deliver under oath, for impounding during the pendency of the action, upon such terms and conditions as the court may prescribe, sales invoices and other documents evidencing sales, all articles and their packaging alleged to infringe a copyright and implements for making them. 

            (d) Deliver under oath for destruction without any compensation all infringing copies or devices, as well as all plates, molds, or other means for making such infringing copies as the court may order. 

            (e) Such other terms and conditions, including the payment of moral and exemplary damages, which the court may deem proper, wise and equitable and the destruction of infringing copies of the work even in the event of acquittal in a criminal case. 

       216. 2. In an infringement action, the court shall also have the power to order the seizure and impounding of any article which may serve as evidence in the court proceedings. (Sec. 28, P.D. No. 49a) 

SEC. 217. Criminal Penalties

       217.1. Any person infringing any right secured by provisions of Part IV of this Act or aiding or abetting such infringement shall be guilty of a crime punishable by: 

            (a) Imprisonment of one (1) year to three (3) years plus a fine ranging from Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000) to One hundred fifty thousand pesos (P150,000) for the first offense. 

            (b) Imprisonment of three (3) years and one (1) day to six (6) years plus a fine ranging from One hundred fifty thousand pesos (P150,000) to Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000) for the second offense. 

            (c) Imprisonment of six (6) years and one (1) day to nine (9) years plus a fine ranging from Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000) to One million five hundred thousand pesos (P1,500,000) for the third and subsequent offenses.

            (d) In all cases, subsidiary imprisonment in cases of insolvency. 

       217.2. In determining the number of years of imprisonment and the amount of fine, the court shall consider the value of the infringing materials that the defendant has produced or manufactured and the damage that the copyright owner has suffered by reason of the infringement. 

       217.3. Any person who at the time when copyright subsists in a work has in his possession an article which he knows, or ought to know, to be an infringing copy of the work for the purpose of: 

            (a) Selling, letting for hire, or by way of trade offering or exposing for sale, or hire, the article; 

            (b) Distributing the article for purpose of trade, or for any other purpose to an extent that will prejudice the rights of the copyright owner in the work; or 

            (c) Trade exhibit of the article in public, shall be guilty of an offense and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment and fine as above mentioned. (Sec. 29, P.D. No. 49a) 

SEC. 218. Affidavit Evidence

       218.1. In an action under this Chapter, an affidavit made before a notary public by or on behalf of the owner of the copyright in any work or other subject matter and stating that: 

            (a) At the time specified therein, copyright subsisted in the work or other subject matter; 

            (b) He or the person named therein is the owner of the copyright; and 

            (c) The copy of the work or other subject matter annexed thereto is a true copy thereof, shall be admitted in evidence in any proceedings for an offense under this Chapter and shall be prima facie proof of the matters therein stated until the contrary is proved, and the court before which such affidavit is produced shall assume that the affidavit was made by or on behalf of the owner of the copyright. 

       218.2. In an action under this Chapter. 

            (a) Copyright shall be presumed to subsist in the work or other subject matter to which the action relates if the defendant does not put in issue the question whether copyright subsists in the work or other subject matter; and 

            (b) Where the subsistence of the copyright is established, the plaintiff shall be presumed to be the owner of the copyright if he claims to be the owner of the copyright and the defendant does not put in issue the question of his ownership. 

            (c) Where the defendant, without good faith, puts in issue the questions of whether copyright subsists in a work or other subject matter to which the action relates, or the ownership of copyright in such work or subject matter, thereby occasioning unnecessary costs or delay in the proceedings, the court may direct that any costs to the defendant in respect of the action shall not be allowed by him and that any costs occasioned by the defendant to other parties shall be paid by him to such other parties. (n) 

SEC. 219. Presumption of Authorship

       219.1. The natural person whose name is indicated on a work in the usual manner as the author shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be presumed to be the author of the work. This provision shall be applicable even if the name is a pseudonym, where the pseudonym leaves no doubt as to the identity of the author. 

       219.2. The person or body, corporate whose name appears on an audio-visual work in the usual manner shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be presumed to be the maker of said work. (n) 

SEC. 220. International Registration of Works

       A statement concerning a work, recorded in an international register in accordance with an international treaty to which the Philippines is or may become a party, shall be construed as true until the contrary is proved except: 

       220.1. Where the statement cannot be valid under this Act or any other law concerning intellectual property.
       220.2. Where the statement is contradicted by another statement recorded in the international register. (n)