Presidential Decree No. 1203 (PD 1203) — Further Amending Presidential Decree No. 285 as Amended by Presidential Decree No. 400.
WHEREAS, Presidential Decree No. 285 as amended, authorizes
the compulsory licensing or reprinting of educational, scientific or cultural
books and materials as a temporary or emergency measure whenever the prices
thereof become so exorbitant as to be detrimental to the national interest;
and
WHEREAS, there is a necessity to provide effective controls
or safeguards against any abuses of the rights of foreign or domestic authors
and publishers and so as not to deprive them of the returns of their works or
investments ;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby
order and decree:
SECTION 1. Section 1 of Presidential Decree No. 285 as
amended by Presidential Decree No. 400 is hereby further amended to read as
follows:
"SEC. l.-(l) Whenever the price of any textbook or reference
book duly prescribed by the curriculum and certified by the registrar of the
school or university or college, whether of domestic or foreign origin, has
become so exorbitant as to be detrimental to the national interest, as
determined and declared by a Reprint Committee composed of the Secretary of
Education and Culture as Chairman, and the Director General of the National
Economic Development Authority, the Chairman of the Textbook Board and of the
Director of the National Library as members, such book or other written material
may be reprinted by the government or by a printer under the following
conditions:
"(a) That a particular title may be reprinted by only one private publisher
or printer authorized by the Reprint Committee ;
"(b) That anyone wishing to undertake the reprinting shall file an
application with the National Library containing the following information: the
title, author and original publisher of the book or other written material to be
reprinted; its foreign list price in case of a Philippine book; the proposed
list price of the reprinted matter; the name of the actual printer; the number
of copies to be reprinted; and the name and address of the applicant. An
application for each subsequent reprinting shall likewise be filed and copies
thereof furnished to local representatives of the foreign publishers;
"(c) That the successful applicant shall accomplish the reprinting within
sixty days from the date of approval of the application. If the reprinting shall
not have been done in that time, the title may be applied for by other
interested parties.
"(2) Exorbitant price shall mean not less than Thirty Five Pesos (P35.00).
unit otherwise increased by the Reprint Committee.
"(3) Each copy of each title reprinted under this Decree shall be numbered
consecutively on the copyright page.
"(4) All titles reprinted prior to these amendments shall be registered, the
registrant furnishing the National Library the same information required in the
aforementioned application, within thirty (30) days after these amendments take
effect."
SEC. 2. Section 2 of the same Decree is hereby amended to
read as follows:
"SEC. 2. Reprinted books as defined in Section 1 shall bear
proper acknowledgment of the source, authorship, copyright proprietors and past
printers, if known, as well as the names and addresses of the publishers and
printers. If abbreviated or edited in any manner, such fact shall be stated. The
following inscription shall also appear on the covers thereof: "Export of this
Book or material is punishable by law." The export of such reprints under any
circumstance is hereby prohibited. Any reprinter found guilty of exporting
reprinted books in violation of this provision shall in addition to the
penalties prescribed in Section 5 hereof, be disqualified from further
reprinting, and his license as trader, if any, immediately
cancelled.
SEC. 3. Section 3 of the same Decree, as amended, is hereby
further amended to read as follows:
"SEC. 3. The reprinting of the abovementioned books shall be
subject to the condition that the awardee shall pay a royalty, of at least seven
per centum (7%) of the list price in the Philippines in case of books published
in the country, or at least two per centum (2%) of the foreign list price in the
case of books published in other countries. Report of sales and payment of
royalties shall be made to the copyright owners or publishers every six (6)
months: Provided, That in the case of non-resident authors, publishers
or copyright owners, the royalties, in dollars if so desired, shall be fully
remittable, within the same period."
SEC. 4. Section 4 of the same Decree as amended is hereby
further amended to read as follows:
"SEC. 4. (1) Any conflict or claim arising out of the
provisions of this Decree shall be decided by the Committee mentioned in Section
1 hereof, An order or decision of said Committee shall become final after
fifteen (15) days following the receipt by the party concerned of such order or
decision, unless in the meantime an appeal therefrom to the Office of the
President has been taken by the aggrieved party.
"(2) The Reprint Committee shall adopt and promulgate such rules and
regulations as may be necessary for the effective implementation of this
Decree."
SEC. 5. Section 4 of the same Decree is hereby renumbered
SEC. 6. These amendments shall take effect immediately.
Done in the City of Manila, this 27th day of September, in the year of Our
Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-seven.
(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS
President of the
Philippines
By the President:
(Sgd.) JUAN C. TUVERA
Presidential
Assistant
Section 5 and amended to read as follows:
"SEC. 5. Any person, natural or juridical, who shall violate
the provisions of this Decree or its implementing rules shall, upon conviction
thereof, be punished by imprisonment of not less than six (6) months nor more
than three (3) years or a fine of not less than Ten Thousand Pesos nor more than
Fifty Thousand Pesos, or both at the discretion of the court. If the violation
is committed by a firm, company or corporation, the directors or the manager or
person in charge of the management of the Bus ness thereof shall be responsible
therefor, in any case the corporation shall also pay the fine herein
provided. Books and materials printed or published or exported in
violation of this Decree shall be immediately confiscated and the establishment
that printed or published or exported them shall forthwith be closed and its
operation discontinued."
Source: Supreme Court E-Library, Republic of the Philippines. Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).
