569 Phil. 630
CORONA, J.:
Section 217. Criminal Penalties. — 217.1. Any person infringing any right secured by provisions of Part IV of this Act or aiding or abetting such infringement shall be guilty of a crime punishable by:Respondent asserted in his counter-affidavit[16] that he committed no violation of the provisions of the IPC because he was only a retailer.[17] Respondent neither reproduced nor manufactured any of petitioner's copyrighted item; thus, he did not transgress the economic rights of petitioner.[18] Moreover, he obtained his merchandise from authorized manufacturers of petitioner's products.[19]
(a) Imprisonment of one (1) year to three (3) years plus a fine ranging from Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000) to One hundred fifty thousand pesos (P150,000) for the first offense.
(b) Imprisonment of three (3) years and one (1) day to six (6) years plus a fine ranging from One hundred fifty thousand pesos (P150,000) to Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000) for the second offense.
(c) Imprisonment of six (6) years and one (1) day to nine (9) years plus a fine ranging from Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000) to One million five hundred thousand pesos (P1,500,000) for the third and subsequent offenses.
(d) In all cases, subsidiary imprisonment in cases of insolvency.
217.2. In determining the number of years of imprisonment and the amount of fine, the court shall consider the value of the infringing materials that the defendant has produced or manufactured and the damage that the copyright owner has suffered by reason of infringement.
217.3. Any person who at the time when copyright subsists in a work has in his possession an article which he knows, or ought to know, to be an infringing copy of the work for the purpose of:
(a) Selling, letting for hire, or by way of trade offering or exposing for sale, or hire, the article;
(b) Distributing the article for purpose of trade or any other purpose to an extent that will prejudice the rights of the copyright of the owner in the work; or
(c) Trade exhibit of the article in public, shall be guilty of an offense and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment and fine as above mentioned. (emphasis supplied)
Evidence on record would show that respondent bought his merchandise from legitimate sources, as shown by official receipts issued by JC Lucas Creative Products, Inc., Paper Line Graphics, Inc. and Melawares Manufacturing Corporation. In fact, in her letter dated May 23, 2002, Ms. Ma. Angela S. Garcia certified that JC Lucas Creative Products, Inc., Paper Line Graphics, Inc. and Melawares Manufacturing Corporation are authorized to produce certain Sanrio products. While it appears that some of the items seized during the search are not among those products which [GGI] authorized these establishments to produce, the fact remains that respondent bought these from the abovecited legitimate sources. At this juncture, it bears stressing that respondent relied on the representations of these manufacturers and distributors that the items they sold were genuine. As such, it is not incumbent upon respondent to verify from these sources what items [GGI] only authorized them to produce. Thus, as far as respondent is concerned, the items in his possession are not infringing copies of the original [petitioner's] products. (emphasis supplied)[20]Thus, in a resolution dated September 25, 2002, it dismissed the complaint due to insufficiency of evidence.[21]
Section 1. Violations penalized by special acts shall, unless otherwise provided in such acts, prescribe in accordance with the following rules: (a) after a year for offenses punished only by a fine or by imprisonment for not more than one month, or both; (b) after four years for those punished by imprisonment for more than one month, but less than two years; (c) after eight years for those punished by imprisonment for two years or more, but less than six years; and (d) after twelve years for any other offense punished by imprisonment for six years or more, except the crime of treason, which shall prescribe after twenty years; Provided, however, That all offenses against any law or part of law administered by the Bureau of Internal Revenue shall prescribe after five years. Violations penalized by municipal ordinances shall prescribe after two months.According to the CA, because no complaint was filed in court within two years after the commission of the alleged violation, the offense had already prescribed.[25]
Section 2. Prescription shall begin to run from the day of the commission of the violation of the law, and if the same may not be known at the time, from the discovery thereof and the institution of judicial proceedings for its investigation and punishment.
The prescription shall be interrupted when proceedings are instituted against the guilty person, and shall begin to run again if the proceedings are dismissed for reasons not constituting jeopardy. (emphasis supplied)
Section 177. Copy or Economic Rights.-- Subject to the provisions of Chapter VIII, copyright or economic rights shall consist of the exclusive right to carry out, authorize or prevent the following acts:[15] Intellectual Property Code, Sec. 178 provides:
177.1. Reproduction of the work or substantial portion of the work;
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177.3. The first public distribution of the original and each copy of the work by sale or other forms of transfer of ownership;
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Section 178. Rules on Copyright Ownership. Copyright ownership shall be governed by the following rules:[16] Annex “N,” id., pp. 145-172.
178.1. Subject to the provisions of this section, in the case of original literary or artistic works, copyright shall belong to the author of the work;
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178.3. In the case of work created by an author during and in the course of his employment, the copyright shall belong to:
(a) The employee, if the creation of the object of copyright is not a part of his regular duties even if the employee uses the time, facilities and materials of the employer.
(b) The employer, if the work is the result of the performance of his regularly-assigned duties, unless there is an agreement, express or implied, to the contrary.
178.4. In the case of a work commissioned by a person other than an employer of the author and who pays for it and the work is made in pursuance of the commission, the person who so commissioned the work shall have ownership of the work, but the copyright thereto shall remain with the creator, unless there is a written stipulation to the contrary;
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