‘Happy 93th Birthday’ Billboard Goes Viral for the Wrong Reason

In the world of social media, going viral can either be a good thing or a bad thing. For this local out-of-home (OOH) advertising agency, they were the latter.

Last weekend, a post by known American filmmaker Lauren Greenfield made rounds on Twitter after seeing that one of the images from her documentary “The Kingmaker” featuring former first lady Imelda Marcos was used in a digital billboard.

Grammar mistake aside, it’s a clear indication of copyright infringement as the image is the property of Greenfield and the production companies behind the documentary.

The ad agency in question, Digital Out-of-Home PH (DOOH PH), has issued an apology through Daily Tribune, which they shared on their Facebook page.

“We must confess that we were unaware of your copyright, and we appreciate that you brought the matter to our attention,” the DOOH PH management said.

“Please be informed that as soon as we were made aware of the issue, we immediately took the greeting down.”

Hours after the apology was made, however, Greenfield took to Twitter again to say that another copyright infringement happened.

According to the Official Gazette, under Republic Act No. 8293 or the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, the criminal penalties for copyright infringement are:

(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.

“The Kingmaker” debuted at the 76th Venice International Film Festival in 2019. It’s available for free streaming on YouTube via EVERGREEN PICTURES (Philippines only) or for a fee via Dogwoof for those living outside the Philippines.