Salceda: AI world sans strong IP laws could kill PH multimedia art sector

MANILA  -House ways and means committee chair Joey Sarte Salceda (Albay, 2nd district) warned that without “strong, immediate, and responsive” protections in the country for multimedia artists, such as site blocking powers for intellectual property authorities, artificial intelligence “could kill the Filipino multimedia sector.”

Salceda made the statement following an article released Tuesday by the New York Times about the dangers posed by artificial intelligence, as articulated in the thoughts of scientist Geoffrey Hinton, who worked on the technology for more than 25 years.

“The labor displacement issue is very valid. It will definitely make many jobs obsolete. Quick copywriting would be one of the first to fall. Videos made by AI are also emerging, and soon enough, they will be close to real.”

“But you will notice that AI ultimately relies on source material as basis for the ‘art’ it generates. So, theoretically, we should be able to take legal action on those who use AI-generated material if it infringes on original copyrighted material.”

“What AI appears to do right now is alter original content, but in essence, it still depends on original source material.”

“With these AI-generated multimedia materials all over the internet, you do need a quick response mechanism. That’s why site blocking is as important as copyright protection. No enforcement, no ownership. You cannot own what you cannot protect. And you will not create if you cannot own.”

Passage of legislation to address online infringement sought

Salceda says the key feature of House Bill No. 7600, which amends the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines is that “it allows the Intellectual Property Office to respond quickly to online infringement through a proper process of petitioning for the blocking of a website that contains infringed material.”

Salceda is principal author of House Bill No. 7600, or “An Act Amending Chapter XVII of Republic Act No. 8293, otherwise known as the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, as amended,” which was already approved by the House committee on trade and industry.

“I think we will approve it on the floor before the 2nd SONA (state of the nation address) of PBBM. We have time,” Salceda said.

Salceda also wants the IPOPHIL (Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines) to develop a protocol “for doing site blocking if it is posted on a microsite or a social media account, since, of course, you can’t block the whole site in such cases.”

“We will continue to engage the IPOPHIL and the Department of Information and Communication Technology to see how we can operationalize these new powers.”

“I’m not against AI. Like any technology, it has good and bad (aspects). We just have to respond in ways that protect our art and our artists.”