Korea-Philippines Discuss Copyright Issues in the Era of Non-Face-to-Face Education

Ministry of Culture and Philippine Intellectual Property Office to Host Copyright Forum on 26th
Online Dual Broadcast Between Both Countries

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heungsoon] The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will hold the '2020 Korea-Philippines Copyright Forum' with the Philippine Intellectual Property Office at 3 p.m. on the 26th. The theme is 'Issues of Copyright in the Non-Face-to-Face Education Environment.' This forum is an opportunity to discuss the changes in the educational environment caused by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Hosted by the Korea Copyright Commission, this forum will be broadcast online from both countries instead of allowing on-site attendance to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Moon Mu-sang, a research fellow at the Korea Education and Research Information Service, and Philippine lawyer Mark Robert Dai will present on the topic of 'Current Status of Non-Face-to-Face Education and Copyright Issues' in their respective countries. Professor Moon Sun-young of the Department of Law at Sookmyung Women’s University and Alan B. Gepty, Deputy Secretary of the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry, will discuss 'Challenges of Non-Face-to-Face Education and Copyright in the Post-COVID Era.' Following the presentations, there will be discussions and a Q&A session.

The global educational environment has undergone significant changes due to COVID-19. According to UNESCO, as of April, 1.6 billion students in 193 countries worldwide were unable to receive proper education due to school closures. Although most countries have introduced online classes, copyright issues related to these classes are emerging.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to expand the scope of copyrighted works that can be used in schools to allow the use of various educational content in classes and revise the 'Guidelines for Use of Copyrighted Works for Educational Purposes,' which include methods for using copyrighted materials.

The Philippines has also proposed legislation on the 'Digitization and Use of Textbooks' to enable all public school students to use electronic or digital textbooks. They are establishing an online learning support website that teachers and students can use for free and are promoting measures to prohibit the resale of the educational materials provided.

A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official said, "This is a meaningful opportunity to hear the opinions of experts from both countries on copyright issues arising in the rapidly changing educational environment due to COVID-19," adding, "We hope that based on the opinions raised at the forum, both countries can establish copyright systems suitable for the non-face-to-face education environment."