Presidential candidate Gilbert "Gibo" Teodoro is caught between a copyright dispute for the song "Posible," used in his TV commercial that started airing early this month.
Two camps are claiming ownership of the song. On one hand, there's former Rivermaya front man Rico Blanco and his record label Warner Music. Blanco and another composer wrote "Posible" for the Southeast Asian Games, which was held in the Philippines in 2005.
Lizza Nakpil, on the other hand, the former manager of Rivermaya, registered the song September last year with Copyright Office of The National Library.
Rivermaya and Nakpil have been involved in a bitter dispute since October last year. Mark Escueta, Rivermaya's drummer, told PEP in an e-mail that their former manager is "killing their career" by claiming exclusive rights to own the name "Rivermaya." (CLICK HERE to read related story.)
In a separate interview, Nakpil asserted her ownership of the band name, saying she "created Rivermaya." (CLICK HERE to read related story.)
Lastly, Blanco told several music magazines that he could not comment on the band name ownership issue because "he's not affiliated with Rivermaya anymore." He left the band on May 2007 without giving any clear reason. (CLICK HERE to read related story.)
Blanco started his solo career with Warner Music on June 2008.
RICO CRIES FOUL. On January 5, a short post in Rico Blanco's Twitter account started one of the first controversies in Gilbert "Gibo" Teodoro's presidential candidacy. (CLICK HERE to read Teodoro's candidate profile.)
"i'm itching to tweet about this VERY STRANGE intellectual property issue that came to my attention just last night," said Rico at http://twitter.com/1ricoblanco. According to the former Rivermaya front man, the former Defense Secretary breached copyright laws when he used the song "Posible" in his campaign ad on television.
The TV spot, which started airing early this month, features "Posible," but with the lyrics changed. The 30-second commercial changed the original lyrics "Sulong, Laban" to "Sulong, Gibo!"
In his successive Twitter posts, Rico said the presidential candidate did not get his permission to turn the song into a campaign jingle. He also said the jingle "copied" his singing voice, thereby hinting that he was endorsing Gibo.
"i'd like to understand how can a presidentiable can overlook a simple matter such as intellectual property. command responsibility," Blanco said in his Twitter post.
He admitted, however, that he may have agreed to endorse Teodoro had his camp asked for his permission to use the song he composed. The singer said the administration bet was one of the two candidates he's thinking of voting for the May 2010 elections.
But he added that he did not know how a "smart" candidate could overlook property rights.
"i don't have an explanation even in my imagination but i'd still like to give him benefit of the doubt til we get all the details to be fair," he said.
SONG AUTHORIZED. In response to Rico Blanco's Twitter posts, Dennis Garcia, the musical scorer who supervised the recording of the campaign jingle, posted a long explanation about the issue in his own Facebook account last January 7.
In summary, Garcia's post said he got authorization to use the song as Teodoro's campaign jingle.
"I chose a gem I heard extensively during the SEA Games in Manila a few years back. The song was "Posible"... and I tracked down the artists and the publisher through my Viva friends. I had the paperwork prepared, the details spelled out... and paid the agreed—upon license fees (being a composer myself—I tend to get charged cheaper and the savings are always passed on to clients. Friend's price!)," Garcia said.
He also denied that the jingle was conceived to sound like Rico Blanco is endorsing Teodoro.
In conclusion, Garcia said he relayed the explanation to "uber talented Rico Blanco," who "listened and showed appreciation for the facts... and the truth."
Along with the explanation, Garcia posted a photo of a document dated December 11, 2009. It names Lizza Nakpil as the licensor "who controls all the rights to the song" "Posible." Nakpil and Garcia were co-signees on the document, which gave Teodoro's camp the right to use the song on TV and radio commercials for a period of six months only in the Philippine territory. Slight changes to the lyrics were also allowed.
Noticeably, Rivermaya was named the song's performer. The amount of money used to buy the rights of the song, meanwhile, was blotted out.
CEASE AND DESIST. Despite Garcia's explanation, Warner Music released on the following day a statement that asserted that the use of "Posible" was unauthorized. Warner Music claimed that Rico Blanco "reserved all intellectual property rights" to the song.
It also asked Teodoro's camp to stop the airing of the TV ad to "avoid legal action."
PEP publishes the full statement below:
"It has come to our attention that our talent Rico Blanco's musical composition, 'Posible,' has been used in broadcast advertising associated with a candidate in this year's presidential elections. Television advertisements, in which the composition has been performed, have been airing regularly since—at least—January 4, 2010.
"This use of 'Posible' is unauthorized. Rico Blanco is the composer and reserved all intellectual property rights to it. He has not licensed the use of the composition to any political-ad campaign, nor has he assigned any of his rights to another party or to a music publisher. Rico at this time has not endorsed any political candidate, whether for President or any other elective position, and is not affiliated with any political party. Nor have his services as a composer or performer been retained by any national political campaign.
"Rico Blanco and Warner Music Philippines Artist Management have requested that the campaign cease and desist from any further broadcast of 'Posible,' and are hopeful that the concerned parties will act appropriately to avoid legal action."
NO ANSWER FROM GIBO. PEP tried to contact Teodoro's camp to get their side on the cease and desist order. But a text message sent to one of Teodoro's staff last Saturday and Sunday night were not answered as of posting time. This morning, PEP also sent a text message to the staff of Teodoro's wife, Monica Prieto-Teodoro, but it was also unanswered.
In a statement sent to Manila Bulletin on January 8, Teodoro's camp said they would rather leave the explanations to Dennis Garcia, the musical scorer who supervised the recording of the song for the TV commercial.
"He is aware of the issue but his campaign team would rather leave it to Dennis Garcia to answer because Dennis had already done a good [job] in answering the issue point by point and by posting the licensing agreement on the Internet," the statement said.
A GMA-7 news report aired last night also said it failed to get Teodoro's opinion.
DENNIS GARCIA'S SIDE. To further clarify the issue, PEP sent an e-mail to Dennis Garcia this morning. In response, Garcia said he just "volunteered to explain his side of the story," and that Teodoro's camp has "no reason to apologize or be defensive."
According to Garcia, the record label's order to "cease and desist" from playing the commercial, "surprised" Teodoro's camp.
"Of course, they were quite surprised. Everything was above board. In my opinion, they should not stop the commercials. That would be like admitting guilt," Garcia said.
Garcia, moreover, said he was unaware of the supposed rift between Nakpil and Rivermaya when he purchased the rights of the song.
"When this issue started, people started telling me about a supposedly messy rift. I wasn't aware of this because I have been based abroad since 2007... Also, frankly, I'm more interested in Pinoy artists of the '70s. I shouldn't be obliged to know the latest chismis," he explained.
This may have been the reason why Garcia contacted Nakpil, instead of Rico, for the rights of "Posible."
MEETING WITH RICO. In hopes of finally ending the issue that "attracts negative forces" to Teodoro's campaign, Garcia posted another explanation on his Facebook account this afternoon.
Garcia said he set up a meeting with Rico Blanco on January 6 "to clear the air and correct any misconceptions." But he said the singer canceled the meeting on the appointed date, and just sent a text message assuring him that there were "no ill feelings and... bad faith from [Garcia's] end and anything like that."
Blanco just instructed Garcia to "just inform his management team at Warner Music about the license."
On January 7, Garcia also sent Warner Music a copy of the December 11 document that names Nakpil as the owner of "Posible." But Warner Music released the "cease and desist" request on January 8 just the same.
Garcia said he expects a "sincere apology" from Blanco and Warner Music. The record label's action also prompted Garcia to file his own piracy case against them.
"I also intend to file a case of piracy of my lyrics for the songs "O Lumapit Ka" and "Ikaw Pa Rin" which Warner Music brazenly used without remuneration and permission. Hey, guys, practice what you preach," Garcia said.
"O, Lumapit Ka" and "Ikaw Pa Rin" were songs popularized by Hotdog, Garcia's band from the 1970s.
NAKPIL HAS COPYRIGHT? In his second statement, Garcia attached another document that supposedly proves Nakpil's ownership of the Rivermaya song.
The document was a "Certificate of Copyright Registration and Deposit" issued by the Copyright Office of The National Library.
The certificate indicates that Nakpil registered the song "Posible" under her own name on September 10, 2009. The Copyright Office granted Nakpil's request on September 24, 2009, giving her copyright ownership for the song 50 years from the date it was first recorded.
PEP called the Copyright Office today, January 11, to confirm the document's authenticity. Copyright Examiner Michelle Flor said over the phone that the document posted online matches their records.
The document was authorized by Virginio V. Arriero, Acting Chief of the Research and Publications Division of The National Library, and was attested by Michelle Flor herself.
Under the the photo of the document in his Facebook account, Garcia commented: "a publisher and his/her artist should settle their differences... and not penalize or harass clients who have no inclination to be part of the mess..."
OTHER SIDES IN THE ISSUE. PEP sent a text message to Nakpil's personal number this morning to ask for her side in the isssue, but there was still no reply as of posting time.
Similarly, PEP called Peachy Vibal-Guioguio, Warner Music's PR consultant, this afternoon to get the record label's opinion on Nakpil's coyright document. Vibal-Guiguio, however, refused to answer the questions, and instead referred us to their lawyers, whom she said will call us after twenty minutes. There is still no call from them as of posting time.
Teodoro's "Posible" TV commercial, meanwhile, is still airing at press time.
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