The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) is addressing IP concerns that may be affected by the advent of artificial intelligence (AI).
In a press conference at the 2nd Philippine International Copyright Summit in Quezon City yesterday, IPOPHL director-general Rowel Barba said the agency will come up with the guidance on strengthening ownership of works at this time when infringement is digital.
Barba said IPOPHL relies on disclosures by rights holders but as a rule, work generated by machines cannot be registered for copyright protection.
He said the agency will also determine whether or not to allow works partly generated by AI to be registered with IPOPHL.
Barba said IPOPHL is discussing with different sectors on the effects of AI on a specific sector, like AI music and AI in films.
“We will come up with some recommendations which we can integrate with the AI roadmap,”
Barba said as he expressed hope government can come out with a single guideline on AI.
“It appears the different government agencies are doing their own (guidelines) but hopefully we can consolidate all of those guidelines into one,” Barba said.
Barba said with the guidance, IPOPHL will attempt to give answers on questions on ethics and law governing AI.
“What does it mean to be an artist in the time of AI? Would machines be able to create poems and songs that could move us deeply and touch our souls? Is it reasonable for an AI-generated art to command the same value in auctions as does human-generated art?,” Barba told delegates in his speech at the opening of the PICS.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Copyrights and Related Rights will soon launch its Copyright Registration Search aimed at strengthening artists’ claim of ownership and have a convenient way to prove this.
Barba said this search system will offer a user-friendly way for checking copyright registration filed in IPOPHL. This will be updated monthly with future plans to slowly include copyright registrations filed in the National Library of the Philippines.
“In the long run, we hope to create a truly unified, national copyright registry for the Philippines,” Batba said.
He said IPOPHL is working to be designated as an ISNI-Registration Agency. ISNI stands for International Standard Name Identifier which is used by libraries, publishers, databases and rights management organizations around the world.
Once IPOPHL is able to issue ISNI to local authors, artists and organizations, they could be more easily found, their works can be more easily tracked, possibly no less by investors who could provide additional income streams to our artists and expand the creative endeavors of creative companies.
