(SPOT.ph) "Activism is not terrorism" is one of the battlecries of protesters who are against the passing of the Anti-Terrorism Act, which was signed into law on July 3. One of the many who question the law is local artist Julienne Dadivas of Hulyen Comics, who made an illustration of a protester holding a placard that says "Activism is not terrorism" and posted it on her Facebook page on June 3. But on July 7, Facebook page The Right Bulsuan—presumably a personal page by someone from the Bulacan State University—illegally used her work and tweaked the words to "Activism is a step to terrorism." Dadivas, on July 28, sought help in reporting the post and page to Facebook. "Walang paalam na ginamit at in-edit pa 'yong art ko para mang-red tag," she said.
The plagiarized work by The Right Bulsuan page also had the word "Reality" and additional protesters in the background. The caption showed a dialogue between a student-activist and someone from The Right Bulsuan, and claimed that a student-activist recruits people to join the New People’s Army. It also used the hashtags: "OustBulsuLeftist," "Resist the Resistance," "FightForBULSU," and "FreeBULSU."
Under the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, artistic works—including "works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving, lithography or other works of art; models or designs for works of art" are original works "protected from the moment of their creation." For these pieces, "copyright shall belong to the author of the work."
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