Philippines’ 2025 National IP Month Emphasis on Music Copyrights: Balancing Digital Fair Use in Streaming Reforms

Introduction: Harmonizing Heritage and Innovation in a Streaming-Dominated Era

In an amalgamation of Original Pilipino Music (OPM), music genres, including kundiman to P-pop, the Philippines has become a digital powerhouse, with streaming incomes skyrocketing 15%, to reach PHP 12.5 billion, as a result of 80 million active users in Spotify and YouTube Music in the first half of 2025. This is coupled with ongoing IP weaknesses where piracy is robbing off approximately PHP 50 billion per annum-2.5% of the GDP.

The 2025 National Intellectual Property Month (NIPM) is being launched on the theme of IP and Music: Bringing the Pinoy Beat to the World, and aimed at globalizing Filipino music as well as enhancing local protection. The campaign, through the sponsorship of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), will feature the events stated below: April 11, a day with music Webinar, and the WIPO Regional Meeting in Manila in March. Combined, these efforts transform streaming laws, with the scope to harmonize creator protection and freedom to users when foreign media intrusion is 20% such that it imposes a strain and likewise encourages local innovation.

NIPM 2025 Framework: Building Pinoy Music IP globally

Released on the first of April, 2025, the theme of NIPM is a strategic roadmap that links IP awareness with OPM global reach that in 2024 reached at least 1.2 billion streams, as pointed out by IFPI. In line with the 2025 theme of the World IP Day, which highlights music, the campaign launched offers by IP clinics to the Karaoke World Championships competition finals and focused on the importance of copyright registration in its export preparedness. Its fundamental mandate simplifies filing using the IPOPHL e-services portal which handled 45,000 copyrights in relation to music in Q1 2025- a quarter-to-quarter growth of 25% – that allows royalties to be collected by the collective management organizations such as FILSCAP.

This is being done by building capacity: in Cebu and Davao, regional caravans in NIPM trained 2 500 artists to insert metadata in tracks to be traceable on international platforms to minimize losses of unmonetized uploads by 30%. On the economic aspect, with OPM exports approaching PHP 8 billion by the year-end, robust IP structures offset dilution due to illegal remixes, as is the case with Ben and Ben 2024 global tour that earned the company PHP 100 million through licensed licensing. Such domestic initiatives are informed by the international cooperation, in particular, the March meeting of WIPO, which influenced the course of the digital policy.

WIPO’s March Influence: Refining Fair Use for Streaming Ecosystems

The WIPO Regional Meeting of March 19-20, 2025, in Manila, with 150 of its representatives, was also instrumental in optimizing rules on fair use when it comes to streaming. The best practices in managing digital IP were shared at the conference, and they informed the revision of the population of the Philippines to update its Statutory Fair Use Guidelines of 2024. These now contain streaming specific provisions under Section 185 of the IP Code to transformative uses including fan edits and algorithmic playlists.

In practice IPOPHL put a fair use sandbox which experimented with thresholds in which 10-second reviews that qualify as non-infringing will decrease filings on disputes 18% in April pilots. This was after the Supreme Court ruled, on February 25, 2025, of G.R. No. 184661 that defined fair use in the digital performances, such that they allowed non-commercial sharing, but still retained royalties on the monetized streams. These reforms were also echoed by the position taken by WIPO on balanced exceptions in promoting innovation without taking away the rights. Since streaming contributes 70% of the music consumption, unified rules were essential; previously, 15% of the royalty would not reach the destination country, as cross-border royalty recovery following WIPO post-event report. However, even with the advancements in the law, the areas of its enforcement are extremely weak.

Critical Analysis: Top-down Void and the Search of Balanced Reforms.

The effectiveness of NIPM 2025 relies on balancing the fair use growth with the active enforcement of pirates in the areas of space with Telegram channels and torrents stealing income totaling 40% of the potential revenue of OPM. Prior to NIPM, IPOPHL proxy blocking requests having 50 sites recorded 60% compliance with the multiplication of proxy networks. Absence of statutory site-blocking on the IP Code leaves the voluntary actions of ISPs to free-speech litigation and ISPs overturned 25% of orders between 2024-2025.

CJA Jurisdictional fragmentation contributes to this distance: streaming giants issue geo-licenses, and piracy centers use the vagueness of Section 185 on the pretext of educational use of bootleg recordings. Through the policy advocacy of Globe Telecom, the 5,000 complaints it will receive every year can only be enforced under the IPOPHL 200 million allotment. In a report issued by Motion Picture Association in 2025, the audit results showed that Filipino users are 33 times more likely to encounter cyber threat within illicit websites, a fact that is in line with a 20% decline in legal subscriptions. Larger pirated P-pop playlists are even stronger since they provide a free playlist with no advertisements. Besides, misuse of WIPO-inspired fair use thresholds 15% of Q2 2025 infringement suits use defense of transformative remix on Tik Tok duets.

Inequality has structural asymmetries: major labels such as Universal Music Philippines that own 60% of OPM catalogs and rely on FILSCAP monitoring to take down infringements at will recapture PHP 150 million in 2025. The situation is no better with the indie creators who are 80% of the new releases and 70% of the complaints have no legal assistance and 12% less innovative data transpires due to IPOPHL records. Although the fair use reforms that are on the same lines with the WIPO are supportive of the diversification of the content by 25%, the gains are against the weaker enforcement. Based on the Philippine Creative Industries Development Plan (PCIDP) 2025-2034, modeling shows that with a 1% improvement in enforcement, one will save PHP 100 billion, with the increase in ARPU. In the absence of site-blocking legislation, piracy destroys confidence in legal platforms to hold local algorithmic investments that have the potential to optimize OPM production 30 per SONIK Sessions 2025.

Three conclusions emerge, first, the four-factor test on commerciality that was clarified by the Supreme Court minimized frivolous defenses 22%. Second, the resistance of ISPs, such as 18% bandwidth increases, is one of the restraining external factors that maintain 35% piracy rates, facilitated by regression analyses of complaint resolutions. Third, such hybrid mechanisms as AI-tagged uploads with compulsory CMO royalties may fill the gulf and forecast 40% of a rise in indie revenue by 2027 with the PHP 500 million digital enforcement fund of PCIDP. These systemic risks to the objectives of NIPM as well as creative-economy resilience are interconnected issues.

The Forecasts on Horizons: Creative Economy and Foreign Media Influx in Manila

Manila, where 3/5^th of the music creation centers are based, has two opportunities: NIPM momentum has the potential to propel the industry to its PHP 2 trillion target in 2025 with better copyrights leading to 15% growth (in export) on platforms like the Official Philippines Chart which released 10 OPM hits in February. Yet, a 25% surge of foreign content, led by K-pop and Hollywood soundtracks, threatens local share, as these capture 40% of ad revenues despite lower domestic streams, according to 2025 Statista projections.

Resilience depends on adaptive strategies: fair use reforms encourage co-licensing hybrids, such as Spotify’s Pinoy Curator Program, now achieving 18% OPM playlist dominance. PCIDP incentives, including tax breaks for cross-border collaborations, offset competition by promoting cultural hybridity, shown in a 12% rise in Filipino-Korean tracks, potentially adding PHP 300 billion to GDP by 2030. However, if piracy persists, foreign dominance could expand 20%, cutting local ARPU and creative returns.

Conclusion: Striking a Sustainable Chord

NIPM 2025’s focus on music IP, supported by WIPO collaboration, lays the foundation for the global growth of Filipino music. Yet sustained progress depends on robust enforcement and fair use equilibrium. Balancing innovation with protection will define whether Manila’s creatives achieve not only survival but true cultural sovereignty in the digital age.

Author:– Amrita Pradhan,  in case of any queries please contact/write back to us at support@ipandlegalfilings.com or   IP & Legal Filing.

References

1. Presidential Proclamation No. 190, s. 2017, Declaring the Month of April of Every Year as National Intellectual Property Month (Phil.), https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2017/08/14/proclamation-no-190-s-2017/.
2. Republic Act No. 8293, The Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (June 6, 1997), https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/resources/intellectual-property-code-of-the-philippines/.
3. Republic Act No. 8293, § 185, The Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (June 6, 1997).
4. Prop. Off. of the Phil., Bureau of Copyright & Related Rights, Guidelines on Statutory Fair Use (Mar. 2024), https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/news/ipophl-releases-statutory-fair-use-guidelines-to-clarify-rules-on-copyright-exceptions/.
5. Prop. Off. of the Phil., IP Month 2025: IP and Music – Bringing the Pinoy Beat to the World (Apr. 1, 2025), https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/ip-month-2025/.
6. World Intell. Prop. Org., Regional Meeting of Intellectual Property Office Officials Responsible for the Madrid System for Asia and Pacific Countries, WIPO/IP/REG/MNL/25 (Mar. 19-20, 2025), https://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=86752.
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9. Statistics Auth., Music, Arts, and Entertainment Industry Statistics (2025), https://psa.gov.ph/.
10. World Intell. Prop. Org., World IP Day 2025: IP and Music – Feel the Beat of IP (Apr. 26, 2025), https://www.wipo.int/ip-outreach/en/ipday/.