Members of creative industries to be trained in protecting IP

THE Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) said it will undertake four projects this year seeking to train workers in the creative industries on protecting their intellectual property (IP).

In a statement on Tuesday, the IPOPHL said that the projects will be carried out under the banner of the Bureau of Copyright and Related Rights’ (BCCR’s) copyright plus program, which has an overall budget of P1.35 million.

“We’re hopeful that the copyright plus program will continue to encourage artists to share their creative stories and efforts, while also becoming ambassadors for copyright — and IP as a whole — in their communities,” BCCR Director Emerson G. Cuyo said.

The first project was proposed by Lakan Media Creatives Creative Director Terence G. Gonzalves, which is seeking to create a seven to 10-minute documentary on protecting copyright for short indie filmmakers.

A second project, by Balangay Entertainment, Inc.’s Nicanor P. Valdez, hopes to conduct IP education in the form of a tabletop card game.

The third project, by Kwentoon Founders Juan Diego Songco and Isabelle Songco, involves an online visual storytelling training workshop on IP for aspiring writers and artists.

The fourth project, by Komiket Co-Founder Paolo Herras, is a workshop for storytelling in graphic novel form.

“The creative reputation of Filipinos is well-known globally. This is why IPOPHL is constantly finding ways to encourage our countrymen to nurture and develop their creative prowess while also pushing them to register their creative works so that they can protect their copyrights,” IPOPHL Director General Rowel S. Barba said. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave