More Filipinos are accessing illegal sites to watch movies to save on costs, especially during the lockdowns.
This is why the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Motion Picture Association (MPA) to support IPOPHL in developing an effective piracy monitoring system and a rolling site-blocking regime that will disrupt accessibility to piracy sites.
A recent YouGov survey commissioned by the Coalition Against Piracy shows that 61 percent of consumers in the Philippines admit to accessing pirate services. This is higher than the 49 percent of Filipinos that admitted to accessing piracy sites in September 2020.
A 2021 IPOPHL survey jointly conducted with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) showed that saving on cost was the primary reason that drives patronage of unofficial copies of movies (68 percent) and TV series (44 percent) among 1,000 respondents surveyed.
Jan van Voorn, MPA executive vice president of Global Content Protection lamented how piracy “remained popular in the Philippines and continue to have detrimental effects on the country,” particularly on job creation and the whole of the economy.
“A site blocking framework, which incorporates transparency and due process, can be incredibly effective at reducing levels of online piracy in key markets like the Philippines,” said van Voorn, who is also head of the MPA’s global anti-piracy coalition, the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment.
The MPA is an advocate in globally advancing film, television and the streaming content industry.
Its members are the five major studios in the United States – namely Paramount Pictures Corp., Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Universal City Studios LLC., Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. – and video streaming service provider Netflix Studios, LLC. – Irma Isip
