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FRANCISCO G. JOAQUIN v. FRANKLIN DRILON GABRIEL ZOSA

FACTS:

Petitioner BJ Productions, Inc. (BJPI) is the holder of the Certificate of Copyright No. M922 for the dating game show "Rhoda and Me". On July 14, 1991, petitioner Francisco Joaquin, Jr., president of BJPI, saw an episode of "Its a Date" produced by IXL Productions, Inc. (IXL) and informed IXL of BJPI's copyright to "Rhoda and Me". Despite demands to discontinue airing "Its a Date", IXL continued to do so. In response, BJPI filed a complaint for copyright infringement against IXL. The Department of Justice reversed the findings of the Assistant City Prosecutor and directed the dismissal of the case. Petitioners argue that the Secretary of Justice gravely abused his discretion in considering the non-presentation of the master tape and determining copyrightability.

ISSUES:

  1. Whether the public respondent gravely abused his discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction when he required the presentation of the master tape to establish probable cause for copyright infringement, despite it not being raised as an issue by private respondents.

  2. Whether the public respondent gravely abused his discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction by determining what is copyrightable, a matter exclusive to the jurisdiction of the regional trial court.

RULING:

  1. No. In reviewing resolutions of prosecutors, the Secretary of Justice is not limited to the issues raised during the preliminary investigation. The presentation of the master videotape was necessary to establish probable cause for copyright infringement as it allows for the comparison of the copyrighted work with the alleged infringing work.

  2. No. The Secretary of Justice did not err in making a preliminary determination regarding the copyrightability of the show's format as a part of his evaluation of probable cause. The format or mechanics of a television show is not a copyrightable subject matter under P.D. No. 49.

PRINCIPLES:

  • Authority of Secretary of Justice in Preliminary Investigations

    • The Secretary of Justice has the authority to review resolutions of prosecutors and make independent determinations of probable cause.

    • The Secretary of Justice can consider errors, although unassigned, to assess whether there is probable cause for filing cases in court.

  • Non-Copyrightability of Formats and Ideas

    • Under P.D. No. 49 and its subsequent amendments, ideas, concepts, formats, or schemes in their abstract form do not fall within the class of works susceptible to copyright registration.

    • Copyright protection extends to finished works and specific expressive elements, not to general formats or concepts.

  • Need for Presentation of Original Work in Copyright Infringement Cases

    • For establishing probable cause in copyright infringement cases, the presentation of the master tape of the copyrighted material is necessary to allow comparison with the alleged infringing material.

    • Mere descriptive comparison without tangible comparison (e.g., by videotape) is insufficient to establish probable cause.