INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION. Intellectual Property Office Director General Rowel Barba (left) and Chanum Foundation president Jordan Mang-osan (right) show the memorandum of agreement signed on Thursday (Oct. 6, 2022) that will start the collaboration for the protection of the artists' group in Baguio City for the protection of their artworks. Chanum Foundation which was co-founded by national artist Benedicto 'BenCab' Cabrera is housed at Tam-awan village which is known as an artists' village and haven in this UNESCO's creative city for crafts and folk arts. (PNA photo by Liza T. Agoot)
BAGUIO CITY – Artists in this summer capital will have their works protected soon under a memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed between the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) and the artists group, Chanum Foundation.
"This is the start of a collaboration which we hope will inspire and protect the artists," said IPOPHL Director General Rowel Barba in a press briefing on the sidelines of the launch of the 12th Tam-awan International Festival on Thursday.
He said they have started giving lectures to artist groups about the protection an IPO-registered work will get under the law.
"Protektado ang artists at hindi basta pwedeng i-publish o di kaya ay gamitin ang isang likha ng walang tahasang pahintulot ang may likha (the artists are protected in such a way that their work cannot just be used or published without the expressed permission of the creator)."
He added that there are instances when the artists will just be surprised that the artwork is displayed in a place without the creator knowing it.
"Most artists do not know their rights that is why we have started to go to the field and not just wait for intellectual property work creators to come to us," Barba said.
During the pandemic, he said their office conducted more than 200 webinars about intellectual property registration, particularly works of art in different forms.
Barba said that by registration, the artist gets recognition for the work of art aside from the monetary gains that go with the recognition of such ownership.
Chanum Foundation president Jordan Mang-osan, who signed the MOA on behalf of the group, cited the need to educate artists on intellectual property right for them not to be abused and get proper compensation.
He added that oftentimes, an artist feels happy that his work is on social media after being posted by another person, not realizing that his rights as a creator were already abused.
The foundation was co-founded by national artist for visual arts Benedicto "BenCab" Cabrera when he relocated to the Cordillera and established the BenCab Museum in Benguet as the home of his artworks. He established the Tam-awan village as the artists' haven in Baguio.
Aside from being a tourist attraction with the original Cordillera huts at the facility, there are art galleries where painting for visual arts and art corners and rooms for sketching and drawing are done. The facility also hosts a crafts workshop that sells the handicrafts of local artists.
The festival which opened on Thursday runs until Sunday.
The celebration which is also supported by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts is being attended face-to-face by 189 artists from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao aside from 70 cultural workers and culture bearers.
There are also online participants in the festival in different regions and countries. (PNA)
