Gilbert Teodoro’s musical scorer of his new television ad, Dennis Garcia, wants a sincere apology from former Rivermaya frontman Rico Blanco and Warner Music Philippines after he was vindicated of the allegations that he illegally used the song ‘Posible’ in the TVC. However, the fiasco is far from over.
Showing proof on his Facebook account, Garcia explained that he has secured an agreement with the band’s former manager, Lizza Nakpil, to use the song ‘Posible.’ In his second statement, he posted a “Certificate of Copyright Registration and Deposit” issued by the Copyright Office of The National Library that supposedly proves Nakpil’s ownership of the song. This document was verified by staff of the Philippine Entertainment Portal (PEP) after calling the Copyright Office of The National Library.
Certificate of Copyright Registration and Deposit issued by the Copyright Office of The National Library that supposedly proves Nakpil’s ownership of the song 'Posible'
Now that the issue has been settled, one has to ask: what was the motive behind the cease and desist statement made by Warner Music Philippines? This brouhaha also started with Rico Blanco’s statement on Twitter. Had he exercised due diligence before posting wrongful accusations, all of these could have been avoided.
You might also be interested to read about the case between Rivermaya and their ex-manager, Lizza Nakpil: Ex-manager Lizza Nakpil asserts ownership of Rivermaya brand name.
Update (1/13): Presidential aspirant Gibo Teodoro has announced that he is ready to stop using Rico Blanco’s song, ‘Posible,’ in his political advertisement if they could not come into terms according to a report on GMANews.tv. The report also quotes Warner Music’s legal counsel Rafael Khan — “According to Rico, as a matter of practice, he does not assign the copyright of a song he writes to anyone else. We’re pretty sure that he still has the full rights as the composer of the song.” This essentially refutes the claim of Rivermaya ex-manager Lizza Nakpil that she has rights to the song.
Update (1/18): Gibo’s camp will be pulling out the controversial TV advertisement and will be replacing it with a new one.
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