The brightest stars in the Filipino celebrity landscape have lately been taking up arms in the mission to fight video piracy. In our mission to take a proactive stance against piracy, we are currently working closely with award-winning artist, singer, host, tri-athlete, and Philippine Army reservist Matteo Guidicelli as the face of IPOPHL’s anti-piracy campaign.

Just recently, we joined the celebration of the successful run of GMA’s “Stream Responsibly, Fight Piracy” campaign capped by the welcoming of Ruru Madrid as the network’s face of anti-piracy.

Meanwhile, we recognize the work of Barbie Forteza and her fellow Voltes V cast in their anti-piracy videos throughout the past year.

We at the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines laud this development as we urge more brands and institutions to take part in protecting their very own creations.

Intellectual property rights have long sought a unified voice to express our cause for the ethical consumption of content. This move is especially targeted at the daily Filipino content consumers among whom we can further push the IP awareness campaign.

On the other hand, creative platforms introducing their very own faces of anti-piracy is a testament to the community’s response to our longstanding call for a whole-of-nation approach to enforcement. As we have echoed through the past years, IP is a private right, and it is inspiring to see that brand owners are now starting to fortify their own measures and are encouraging audiences to join the crusade against video piracy.

However, the fight is far from over. While we applaud the successful P1.069 billion earnings of the recent Metro Manila Film Festival, our office has recorded a total of 13 counts of online piracy reports, all of which account for the film Rewind. This alone may project that while some have reported the instances, thousands may have already watched and shared the content.

Intellectual property rights have long sought a unified voice to express our cause for the ethical consumption of content.

The appointment of anti-piracy ambassadors like Guidicelli, Madrid and Forteza represents a significant step in the fight against piracy to appeal to the ethics of Filipinos. As a nation that puts family above all else, we must ingrain in the public that the earnings of content also directly affect the living wages of creative workers — camera operators, production staff, all the way to MSME contractors, among others.

Nonetheless, this is just one part of a broader strategy that includes legislative measures and international cooperation. IPOPHL’s site-blocking rules to fight larger revenue and job losses from piracy have now been in effect since 13 January. These rules apply to websites that operate through copyright infringement online, provided that the IP owners willingly seek out and report the infringing sites. (See: https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/news/ipophl-rolls-out-new-site-blocking-rules-to-stamp-out-piracy-redirect-consumers-to-legit-markets/)

By leveraging the influence of popular figures and implementing robust anti-piracy measures, we are encouraging both IP owners and content consumers to take a firm stand against piracy and champion the protection of IP rights.