August 29 ------ A lawyer of the Television and Production Exponents Inc. (TAPE), the producer of “Eat Bulaga,” said the “EB Happy” segment of the noontime show is different from the copyright registration for “EB Happy Everybody Happy” that was recently registered with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL).
On Aug. 26, Jerricho Calingal, the “BakClash” grand winner of “Eat Bulaga” in 2019, posted on Facebook a copy of his IPOPHL Certificate of Copyright Registration for “EB Happy Everybody Happy.” The certificate showed it was created on July 7 and was registered on Aug. 22. The certificate was issued on Aug. 23. Earlier, TAPE successfully renewed the registration for the trademarks “Eat Bulaga” and “EB.”
About Calingal’s “EB Happy Everybody Happy” copyright registration, TAPE lawyer Maggie Abraham-Gardugue said the noontime show’s “EB Happy” is a trademark and not a copyright. “As regards the name ‘EB Happy,’ this is a trademark and not copyright. The ‘EB Happy’ trademark of TAPE Inc. is ‘Eat Bulaga Happy,’ which is different from his ‘EB Happy,’ which is “Everybody Happy,’” said. She said Calingal’s “EB Happy Everybody Happy” is registered under Paragraph G of Republic Act 8293 or the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, which refers to “works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving, lithography or other works of art; models or designs for works of art.”
Not included in his copyright registration are” dramatic or dramatico-musical compositions; choreographic works or entertainment in dumb shows” under Paragraph E, and “audiovisual works and cinematographic works and works produced by a process analogous to cinematography or any process for making audio-visual recordings” under Paragraph L, the lawyer said. She added that “TAPE is in actual use of the trademark “EB (Eat Bulaga) Happy’ in its segment in ‘Eat Bulaga.’ Mr. Calingal is not in actual use of it in any class.” About the copyright registration Calingal posted online, Abraham-Garduque said ”he registered the copyright for Class G for his graphic design for ‘Everybody Happy.’ So no conflict with TAPE’s audio visual recording for its segment ‘EB Happy.’” “As regards his claim that the segment ‘EB Happy’ is his idea or concept, assuming without admitting that this is true, RA 8293 or the IPO code vividly provides that ‘ideas and concepts are not protected by copyright.’”
She cited Section 175 of the IPO law, which states that “notwithstanding the provisions of Sections 172 and 173, no protection shall extend, under this law, to any idea, procedure, system, method or operation, concept, principle, discovery or mere data as such, even if they are expressed, explained, illustrated or embodied in a work; news of the day and other miscellaneous facts having the character of mere items of press information; or any official text of a legislative, administrative or legal nature, as well as any official translation thereof.” In addition, a search on the IPOPHL website showed that Calingal filed a trademark registration for “EB Happy (Everybody Happy).” As of July 24, the application was still pending with IPOPHL.
Abraham-Garduque said they will oppose Calingal’s trademark application for “EB Happy (Everybody Happy)” with the IPOPHL. “We will file opposition to his trademark application for ‘EB Happy (Everybody Happy)’ if it will reach publication since this trademark is confusingly similar to the one being used by TAPE in its segment for its noontime show,” she said. She added, “As far as I know his trademark application has not reached publication. Under the rules if it reached publication any party that will be damaged by it can file opposition within 30 days.”
On his Facebook account, Calingal answered questions posed by the blog Trending Central. About the song used by “Eat Bulaga,” which contains “EB Happy, Calingal said, “No need to change it,Just replace the word #EBHappy With something else bcoz i didnt gave them any permission to use it.” When asked if TAPE had talked to him about his copyright registration, he said, “Hindi parin po sila nakikipagusap,But im still hoping na we can get to talk about this matter. Wala pong gusot na hindi naayos sa magandang usapan.”
According to the IPOPHL website, “Copyright is the legal protection extended to the owner of the rights in an original work. ‘Original work’ refers to intellectual creation in the literary, scientific and artistic domain.” “Among the literary and artistic works enumerated in the IP Code are books and other writings, musical works, films and photographic works, ornamental designs or models of manufacture, paintings, sculptures, and other works of arts, as well computer programs and mobile apps, etc. The IP Code grants authors, artists, and other creators, automatic protection for their literary and artistic creations, from the moment they create it,” it added. On the other hand, “A trademark is a word, a group of words, sign, symbol, logo or a combination thereof that identifies and differentiates the source of the goods or services of one entity from those of others.”
Source: mb.com.ph
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