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Also, the matters contained in the following were written in accordance with the law, rules, and jurisprudence prevailing at the time of writing and posting, and do not include any future developments on the subject matter under discussion.
AT A GLANCE:
The copyright of a letter shall belong to the writer. (Section 178.6, Intellectual Property Code)
Letters and other private communications cannot be published or disseminated without the consent of the writer or his heirs. (Article 723, Civil Code)
In general, the author of the work holds the copyright to it but the application of the rules may vary depending on the kind of copyrightable work.
Jurisprudence dictates that a worker must be the original creator of the work to be entitled to a copyright. He must have created it by his own skill, labor, and judgment without directly copying or evasively imitating the work of another. (Ching Kian Chuan v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 130360, 2011)
Letters and other private communications
The Law on Copyright under Republic Act No. 8293 or the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines explicitly states that the copyright of a letter shall belong to the writer. (Section 178.6, Chapter VI, Part IV, Intellectual Property Code)
This is subject to the provision of Article 723 of the Civil Code which states that letters and other private communications cannot be published or disseminated without the consent of the writer or his heirs, except when authorized by the court if the public good or the interest of justice so requires.
Letters are included in the enumeration of literary and artistic works under Section 172 of Republic Act No. 8293. It is a form of original intellectual creations in the literary and artistic domain protected from the moment of their creation. Consequently, these works are protected by the sole fact of their creation, irrespective of their mode or form of expression, as well as of their content, quality and purpose. (Section 172.2, Chapter II, Part IV, Intellectual Property Code)
Read also: How to Spot Copyright Infringement
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