Kuwentong Peyups

Atty. Dennis Gorecho

Photojournalism,   fake news,   and copyright

The equivalent of  fake news can be found in most periods of history, though it was not  yet widely understood  then or used as a term.

An interesting  1951  Supreme Court sedition case on a published  “fake death” (Oscar   Mendoza vs.  People, G.R. No. L-2990. December 17, 1951)   is  part of  my lecture on legal issues on photojournalism last week at the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication.

In an act of political protest against the administration of then-President  Manuel Roxas,  the accused wrote a  letter   under a  pseudonymous name  and posed himself in a picture taken wherein he was shown hanging by the end of a rope tied to a limb of a tree.

“I committed suicide because I am ashamed of our government under Roxas. Here in the Philippines our government is infested with many Hitlers and Mussolinis. I cannot hold high my brows to the world with this dirty government. I committed suicide because I have no power to put under Juez de Cuchillo all the Roxas people now in power. So, I sacrificed my own self.”

 He  disseminated the photograph and letter to various newspapers, both within the Bohol province and internationally .

The SC affirmed his conviction for inciting to sedition noting that “the freedom of speech protected by the Constitution does not extend to actions that are likely to incite illegal activities, promote disloyalty, or undermine the security of the State.”

The lecture touched upon    freedom of  speech, expression and press along with other legal issues like plagiarism, libel and copyright.

Photojournalism is a way of communicating information through images, mainly photographs displaying a specific event, time, accident or person.

Under the Intellectual Property Code (IPC) or R.A. 8293, original intellectual creations in the literary and artistic domain are copyrightable such as  photographic works including  works produced by a process analogous to photography.

Copyrightable works, including photographs, are granted automatic protection from the moment of their creation.

If the work is of joint ownership: (a) the co-authors are the original owners and in the absence of agreement, their rights shall be governed by the rules on co-ownership.

If the work is created in the course of employment: (a)  the employee is the owner, if the work created is not part of employee’s regular duties even if he uses the time, facilities and materials of the employer; (b) the  employer is the owner, if the work created is the result of the performance of employee’s regularly-assigned duties, unless otherwise agreed upon.

If the work was commissioned, the one who commissioned the work jointly owns it with the author/creator – but the copyright of the work remains with author/creator, unless otherwise agreed upon.

The person who took the photograph is generally considered the copyright owner, but there are exceptions, such as the  “Work-for-Hire relationship” when a photographer is an employee and taking photos during the course of their employment, in which case the employer may be the copyright owner.

The author of a work has  economic rights as well as moral rights over the work.

The author has the exclusive economic  right to carry out, authorize or prevent the:

(a)   reproduction of the work or substantial portion of the work;

(b)   dramatization, translation, adaptation, abridgment, arrangement or other transformation of the work;

(c) first public distribution of the original and each copy of the work

(d) rental of the original or a copy of the work

( e) public display of the original or a copy of the work;

(f) public performance of the work; and

(g) other communication to the public of the work.

Moral rights confer the following on the author of a work:

(a)   to require that the authorship of the works be attributed to him;

(b)   to make any alterations of his work prior to, or to withhold it from publication;

( c) to object to any distortion, mutilation or other modification of, or other derogatory action in relation to his work which would be prejudicial to his honor or reputation; and

(c)   to restrain the use of his name with respect to any work not of his own creation or in a distorted version of his work.

The submission of a literary, photographic or artistic work to a newspaper, magazine or periodical for publication shall constitute only a license to make a single publication unless a greater right is expressly granted.

The copyright is distinct from the property in the material object subject to it. Consequently, the transfer or assignment of the copyright shall not itself constitute a transfer of the material object.

Copyright infringement occurs when a person, without authorization, exercises any of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner.

 Common forms of infringement for photographs include unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or public display of the image—especially prevalent in online environments.

(Peyups is the moniker of the University of the Philippines. Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the Seafarers’ Division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan Law Offices. For comments, e-mail info@sapalovelez.com, or call 09175025808 or 09088665786.)

Photo: members of the Press Photographers of the Philippines)