I’m no expert on music. And unfortunately, three years deep into my law school education, I’m no expert on the law either. But common decency and fairness -- those things, I understand. Hearing about Mr. Granada’s grievances against the self-proclaimed Kapuso Network, from an earlier post by Canvas, left me infuriated.
Mr. Granada was commissioned to submit a study for a jingle to be used for a project which was a partnership between GMA and Procter & Gamble. He was supplied with basic lyrics for the jingle, and after several meetings, he submitted his final composition which was rejected. To his dismay, when the jingle was aired on the network notwithstanding the difference in the tune used, he recognized his own work because it, miraculously, had exactly the same “measure"( i'm not sure of the proper musical term to use), and musical structure, among other elements as that which he had composed. This, Mr. Granada claimed, was in absolute disregard of his reminder to the network that should his work not be approved, the network should not use his work for other artists to build on. Mr. Granada lodged his complaint with the Filipino Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (FILSCAP) which was met with a letter from GMA’s lawyer saying the said composition was a “collective work” and that he has no claim.
In reference to his mention of “collective work,” I surmise the lawyer was referring to this provision from the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines: Sec. 196. Contribution to Collective Work. - When an author contributes to a collective work, his right to have his contribution attributed to him is deemed waived unless he expressly reserves it. To borrow the legalese of GMA’s lawyer, “assuming without admitting” that he was actually right, and that this defense was legally sound to exonerate the network from any liability, GMA may win a case in court but it ought to lose all self-respect. That’s just a really lousy way to treat artists, considering their business capitalizes on the creative work and intellectual property of their talents. How ironic, that seems rather heartless to me.
Visit http://soundcloud.com/dosomethingworthwhile/gary-granada-vs-gma-kapuso
Of course, this reaction is solely based on what i learned from his side of the story.
Mr. Granada was commissioned to submit a study for a jingle to be used for a project which was a partnership between GMA and Procter & Gamble. He was supplied with basic lyrics for the jingle, and after several meetings, he submitted his final composition which was rejected. To his dismay, when the jingle was aired on the network notwithstanding the difference in the tune used, he recognized his own work because it, miraculously, had exactly the same “measure"( i'm not sure of the proper musical term to use), and musical structure, among other elements as that which he had composed. This, Mr. Granada claimed, was in absolute disregard of his reminder to the network that should his work not be approved, the network should not use his work for other artists to build on. Mr. Granada lodged his complaint with the Filipino Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (FILSCAP) which was met with a letter from GMA’s lawyer saying the said composition was a “collective work” and that he has no claim.
In reference to his mention of “collective work,” I surmise the lawyer was referring to this provision from the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines: Sec. 196. Contribution to Collective Work. - When an author contributes to a collective work, his right to have his contribution attributed to him is deemed waived unless he expressly reserves it. To borrow the legalese of GMA’s lawyer, “assuming without admitting” that he was actually right, and that this defense was legally sound to exonerate the network from any liability, GMA may win a case in court but it ought to lose all self-respect. That’s just a really lousy way to treat artists, considering their business capitalizes on the creative work and intellectual property of their talents. How ironic, that seems rather heartless to me.
Visit http://soundcloud.com/dosomethingworthwhile/gary-granada-vs-gma-kapuso
Of course, this reaction is solely based on what i learned from his side of the story.
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