You're nothing but a second rate, trying-hard copyright: A legal study on the copyrightability of movie lines in the Philippines

• Main Authors: Manalansan, Selena L., Tan, Joshua R.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2016
• Subjects: Copyright > Artistic performance > Philippines; Intellectual Property Law
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/5597
• Institution: De La Salle University

When was the last time you watched a film? What is the last movie line you remember? Do you recall when Cherie Gil asked a musical production to stop the use of a movie line that she allegedly made? Let's say that she did make it, may she protect her infamous copycat line? Before that, are movie lines protected by copyright in the first place? This thesis wants to find out just that. As of now, there is no law, case, or jurisprudence ruling that movie lines are subject to copyright protection. This leaves room for doubt, mistake, and confusion in the interpretation of the law. Being a notable instrument of social, financial, and cultural development, it is necessary to resolve this legal issue. By the review of the constitutional, international, and intellectual property law, as well as the various legal principles, concept, and theories pertaining to IP or copyright, this thesis intends to determine whether or not movie lines, dialogues or quotes are copyrightable.