1 
accompanying sounds, if any, regardless of the nature of the material objects, such 
2 
as films or tapes, in which the works are embodied. 
3 
4 
(b) "Audiovisual recording device" means a digital or analog photographic or 
S 
video camera, or any other technology or device capable of enabling the recording or 
6 
transmission of a cinematographic film or other audiovisual work, or any part thereof, 
7 
regardless of whether audiovisual recording is the sole or primarily purpose of the 
8 
device. 
9 
10 
(c) "Authorized person" means the members' of the Philippine National Police 
11 
(PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and/or any other person duly 
12 
authorized by the same to exercise powers conferred upon by this Act. 
13 
14 
(d) "Camcording" means any of the unlawful acts enumerated under Section 3 
lS 
of this Act. 
16 
17 
(e) "Cinematographic film" means any audiovisual work consisting of a series 
18 
of related images which, when shown in succession, impart an impression of motion. 
19 
together with accompanying sounds, if any. 
20 
21 
(f) "Copy" means any article or thing in which the visual images or sounds 
22 
comprised in any cinematographic film or audiovisual work are embodied, and 
23 
includes the making of a copy which is in electronic format, or transient or incidental 
24 
to some other use thereof. 
2S 


1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
(g) "Copyright owner" means anyone who has the exclusive rights comprised 
in a copyright as provided under Republic Act No. 8293, otherwise known as the 
Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, and related international treaties. 
conventions or agreement to which the Republic of the Philippines is a party. 
(h) "Exclusive licensee" means a licensee who is authorized in writing and 
who, on behalf of the owner or prospective owner of copyright, to the exclusion of all 
other persons, is authorized to do an act within the Philippines that, by virtue of this 
Act, the owner of the copyright would, but for the license, have the exclusive right to 
do or to perform. 
(i) "Exhibition facility" means any cinema, film theater, screening room. 
projection room or other venue that is used for the public exhibition of a 
cinematographic film or audiovisual work, whether or not a fee is chargeable. 
U) "Operator of an exhibition facility" means any person or entity who holds or 
is required to hold a license by the Securities and Exchange Commission ,'SEC', for 
companies and partnerships), the Department of Trade and Industry ("OTI", for sale 
proprietorships), the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board 
(MTRCB) or any and all other relevant government offices that have, or will have. 
jurisdiction over exhibition facilities to operate the exhibition facility. 
(k) "Relevant authority" means the 
offic~rs, members, and responsible 
personnel of law enforcement agencies such as the PNP and their adjuncts and the 
NBI. 


1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
(I) "Transmit" means to convey by any means, whether over a path or a 
combination of paths, provided by a material substance or by wireless means or 
otherwise, and whether or not in response to a request made. 
SEC. 3. Acts Constituting Unauthorized Possession, Use and/or Control 
of Audiovisual Recording Devices. - It shall be unlawful for any person, at a time 
when copyright sUbsists in a cinematographic film or other audiovisual work or Its 
soundtrack and without the authorization of the copyright owner or exclusive licensee 
thereof, to: 
(a) use or attempt to use an audiovisual recording device to transmit or make 
a copy of any performance in an exhibition faciljty of such cinematographic film or 
other audiovisual work or its soundtrack, or any part thereof; or 
(b) have in his/her possession, an audiovisual recording device in an 
exhibition facility, 
with the intent of using or attempts to use the audiovisual 
recording device to transmit or make a copy of any performance in the exhibition 
facility of such cinematographic film or other audiovisual work or its soundtrack. or 
any part thereof. 
(c) aid, abet or connive in the commission of the acts prohibited under this 
section. 


1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
SEC. 4. Penalties. - A person who will be found guilty of violating the 
provisions of Section 3 
shall be subject to a fine of Fifty Thousand pesos 
(P50,OOO.OO) 
but 
not 
exceeding 
Seven 
Hundred 
Fifty 
Thousand 
pesos 
(P750,OOO.OO) and imprisonment of six (6) months and one (1) day to six (6) years 
and one (1) day. 
If the purpose of the commission of the abovementioned acts is the sale. 
rental or other commercial distribution of a copy of the cinematographic or 
audiovisual work or its soundtrack, or any part thereof, the penalty shall be imposed 
in the maximum. 
If the offender is an alien, said person shall immediately be deported after 
payment of the fine and after serving his/her sentence. He/she shall thereafter be 
refused entry into the Philippines. 
If the offender is a government official or employee, the penalty shall include 
perpetual disqualification from public office and forfeiture of his right to vote and 
participate in any public election for a period of five (5) years. 
SEC. 5. Presumptions as to the Subsistence of Copyright and/or 
Ownership of Copyright. - For purposes of Section 3, copyright shall be presumed 
to subsist in the subject Cinematographic film or other audiovisual work or its 
soundtrack if the accused does not put in issue the question as to whether copyright 
sUbsists therein. However: 


1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
(a) where the accused puts such question in issue but does not satisfy the 
court that he/she does so in good faith, the presumption as to the subsistence of 
copyright herein shall apply, notwithstanding that the accused puts that question In 
issue; 
(b) where the name of a· person appears on copies of the subject 
cinematographic film or other audiovisual work or its soundtrack as made available 
to the public in such a way as to imply that the person was the maker thereof and, In 
the case of a person other than a body corporate, that name was his/her true name 
or a name by which he/she was commonly known;'that person shall be presumed to 
be the maker thereof and the copyright owner thereof, unless the contrary is 
established; and/or 
(c) where the accused puts in issue the question of whether copyright subsists 
in the subject cinematographic film or other audiovisual work or its soundtrack, or the 
ownership of the copyright therein, an affidavit made in behalf of the copyright owner 
in which he/she makes assertions of facts relevant to showing that: (1) copyright 
subsists in the work or other subject matter; andlor, as the case may be, (2) he is the 
owner of the copyright, shall be admitted in evidence and shall be prima facie proot 
of the matters stated therein until the contrary is proved, unless the court requires 
that oral/testimonial evidence be adduced to prove those matters. 
SEC. 6. No Defense on Account of Use for Private or Domestic 
Purposes. - It shall not be a defense that the transrnission or making of the copy of 


1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
the cinematographic film or other audiovisual work or its soundtrack, or any part 
thereof, was for private or domestic purposes or in connection with a fair use deal. 
SEC. 7. Requirement for Posting of Notices in an Exhibition Facility on 
the Prohibition Against the Bringing Into' Said Exhibition Facility of 
Audiovisual Recording Devices and the Like. - All exhibition facilities, cinemas or 
theaters shall be required to conspicuously post in at least two (2) areas in the 
exhibition facility including, but not limited to, the areas where tickets are sold and 
the entrances of the exhibition facilities, notices or signages warning against the 
bringing of audiovisual recording devices into the cinematographic film/audiovisual 
screening/exhibition area, with a reservation that the management/operator of the 
exhibition facility will take into preventive and temporary custody such audiovisual 
recording device/s until the film/movie theater patron leaves the screening/exhibition 
area/facility. 
Failure of the management/operator of the exhibition facility to comply with the 
foregoing requirement will subject said management/operator liable to pay a fine of 
Fifty thousand pesos (P50,OOO.OO). 
Nothing in this Act shall prevent the management from performing such other 
precautionary measures so as to prevent the commission of the acts punishable 
herein. 
SEC. 8. Powers ofAuthorized Persons to Enter an Exhibition Facility and 
Search the Same. - An authorized person, without a warrant and without payment of 


1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
any admission fee or other charge, may enter and search any exhibition facility if the 
authorized person has reasonable ground to believe that any violation of this Act has 
been or is being committed and, due to the delay necessary to obtain a warrant 
could result in the loss or destruction of evidence, or for any other reason it woula 
not be reasonably practicable to obtain a warrant. 
SEC. 9. Other Powers of Authorized Persons. - An authorized person who 
has reasonable ground to believe that a violation under this Act has been or is being 
committed may: 
(a) search any person if the person subject of the search has in his/her actual 
possession, any audiovisual recording device, in respect of which an offense under 
this Act has been or is being committed; 
(b) seize, remove or detain any audiovisual recording device or other object 
which appears to contain, or likely to contain, evidence of an offense committed 
under this Act; 
(c) use reasonable force to remove any person or object obstructing the 
authorized person in the exercise of any power cOl)ferred upon him/her by this Act; 
(d) detain any person within a reasonable time not exceeding eighteen (18) 
hours, found in any place which the authorized person is empowered to enter and 
search if, after inquiry made, said authorized person has reasonable ground to 
believe that the person subject of the search is connected with the subject matter ot 


1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
the search, and it is considered necessary to detain the person subject of the search 
to be able to adequately perform the search; and 
(e) require the operator of an exhibition facility or any other person who 
appears to be at the time responsible for the control or management of the exhibition 
facility, to give information or render assistance that may be necessary to enable the 
authorized person to carry out the functions under this Act. 
SEC. 
10. 
Forfeiture 
and Disposal of Unauthorized 
Copy 
of 
Cinematographic Film or Other Audiovisual Work/Audiovisual Recording 
Devices Used in the Commission of the Acts Penalized under this Act. - The 
court before which a person charged with an offense. in violation/contravention of this 
Act, whether or not said person charged is convi9ted of the offense, may order that 
any copy of a cinematographic film or other audiovisual work in which copyright 
subsists, or parts thereof which appears to the co!.}rt to be an unauthorized copy, and 
any audiovisual recording device or other equipment in 
the possession of the 
alleged offender or the court, be destroyed or delivered to the owner or the exclusive 
licensee of the copyright owner concerned, or otherwise dealt with in such a manner 
as the court deems fit. 
In the event that the court retains representative samples of the unauthorized 
copy of a cinematographic film or other audiovisual work, or audiovisual recording 
devices or other equipment for evidentiary purposes in the prosecution of the offense 
for which an accused is charged, the retained samples shall remain in custodia legis 
until the final resolution of the court proceedings thereon. 


1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
SEC. 11. Enforcement. - The PNP in coordination with the NBI, the Optical 
Media Board (OMB), operators of the cinemas, theaters or exhibition facilities, and 
owners of the cinematographic films or audiovisual works and other soundtracks. 
shall enforce the provisions of this Act. The PNP may deputize, for a defined penod. 
the heads or personnel of such agencies and instrumentalities of government or 
private sector representatives or stakeholders of rights over cinematographic 
films/audiovisual works and their soundtracks, .to perform the enforcement functions 
required under this Act. 
SEC. 12. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act is declared invalid. 
the other parts or provisions hereof not affected thereby shall remain and continue to 
be in full force and effect. 
SEC. 13. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, ordinances or rules and 
regulations which are inconsistent with or contrary to the provisions of this Act are 
hereby amended or repealed. 
SEC. 14. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
complete publication in at least two (2) newspapers of national circulation. 
Approved,