Conditions on the Commercial Exploitation of Supreme Court Decisions

July 20, 2004

A.M. No. 04-7-06-SC

RE : Conditions on the Commercial Exploitation of Supreme Court Decisions

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Section 176 of Republic Act No. 8293, otherwise known as the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, provides:

SECTION 176. Works of the Government. — 176.1. No copyright shall subsist in any work of the Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the government agency or office wherein the work is created shall be necessary for exploitation of such work for profit. Such agency or office may, among other things, impose as a condition the payment of royalties. No prior approval or conditions shall be required for the use of any purpose of statutes, rules and regulations, and speeches, lectures, sermons, addresses, and dissertations, pronounced, read or rendered in courts of justice, before administrative agencies, in deliberative assemblies and in meetings of public character. (Sec. 9, first par., P.D. No. 49)

176.2. The author of speeches, lectures, sermons, addresses, and dissertations mentioned in the preceding paragraphs shall have the exclusive right of making a collection of his works. (n) [Emphasis supplied]

WHEREAS, Section 184 of R.A. No. 8293 also provides:

SECTION 184. Limitations on Copyright. — 184.1. Notwithstanding the provisions of Chapter V, the following acts shall not constitute infringement of copyright:

(a) . . .

xxx xxx xxx

(k) Any use made of a work for the purpose of any judicial proceedings or for the giving of professional advice by a legal practitioner. [Emphasis supplied]

WHEREAS, there is a need to impose reasonable conditions on the commercialization of decisions of the Court since private entities are compiling decisions of the Court and selling the compiled decisions to the public and even to the Court itself;

NOW, THEREFORE, the Court hereby ADOPTS the following conditions on the commercial exploitation of decisions of the Supreme Court:

1. Authors of student textbooks and legal treatises may reproduce, in whole or in part, decisions of the Supreme Court without need of securing prior written approval from the Court. The Court hereby grants to authors of student textbooks and legal treatises approval to reproduce its decisions, subject to the following:

a. The author shall provide the Supreme Court Library two (2) free copies of the student textbook or legal treatise. On turn-over of the two copies to the Supreme Court Library, the Court shall issue a confirmation of approval to commercialize the decisions reproduced in the student textbook or legal treatise. This condition is separate from the deposit of two copies of the work of the copyright owner under Section 191 of R.A. No. 8293;

b. The Supreme Court Library shall have the right to digitize the student textbook or legal treatise for exclusive use for research purposes by Justices, Judges and court attorneys of the Judiciary in connection with judicial proceedings; aTcESI

c. These conditions apply to any revision of the student textbook.

2. Any person may compile and reproduce decisions of the Supreme Court for commercial exploitation upon prior written approval of the Court, subject to the following:

a. The person compiling and selling the decisions shall provide the Supreme Court Library twenty (20) free copies of the compiled decisions in the format the compilation is sold to the public;

b. If the compilation is in printed copies, the Supreme Court Library shall have the right to digitize the compilation for exclusive use for research purposes by Justices, Judges and court attorneys of the Judiciary;

c. If the compilation is in digitized format, the Supreme Court Library shall have the right to make available the digitized compilation for exclusive use for research purposes by Justices, Judges and court attorneys of the Judiciary. The person compiling shall submit to the Supreme Court Library a text-file digitized copy of the compilation;

d. The Court shall have the right to purchase copies of the compilation at cost, that is, by paying only the cost of reproducing the compilation, the cost of installation, and the cost of any accompanying software license. Such copies shall be used exclusively by Justices, Judges and court attorneys of the Judiciary and shall not be re-sold by the Court; CEcaTH

e. The compilation shall bear the notice "Compiled for sale to the public with the permission of the Supreme Court";

f. These conditions apply to any updating of the compilation.

3. Decisions of the Supreme Court are downloadable from its Website www.supremecourt.gov.ph in digitized format for direct commercial exploitation subject to these conditions.

4. The conditions under paragraphs 1 and 2 are in lieu of royalty payments to the Court. StatBench

This Resolution shall take effect on 1 September 2004 following its publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation not later than 31 July 2004.

July 20, 2004.

(SGD.) HILARIO G. DAVIDE, JR.Chief Justice

(SGD.) REYNATO S. PUNOAssociate Justice

(SGD.) LEONARDO A. QUISUMBINGAssociate Justice

(SGD.) ANGELINA SANDOVAL-GUTIERREZAssociate JusticeSupreme Court of the Philippines

(SGD.) MA. ALICIA AUSTRIA-MARTINEZAssociate Justice

(SGD.) CONCHITA CARPIO-MORALESAssociate Justice

(SGD.) ADOLFO S. AZCUNAAssociate Justice

(SGD.) ARTEMIO V. PANGANIBANAssociate Justice

(SGD.) CONSUELO YNARES-SANTIAGOAssociate Justice

(SGD.) ANTONIO T. CARPIOAssociate Justice

(On leave)RENATO C. CORONAAssociate Justice

(SGD.) ROMEO J. CALLEJO, SR.Associate Justice

(SGD.) DANTE O. TINGAAssociate Justice

(SGD.) MINITA V. CHICO-NAZARIOAssociate Justice