Willie R. wants infringe case resolved soonest

WE WRITE in response to Neal Cruz’s Feb. 25 column which encourages the belief that our client Willie Revillame sought a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) from the Court of Appeals to enjoin the Makati Regional Trial Court from hearing the infringement case—for fear that ABS-CBN’s evidence will prove he is a copycat. This is farthest from the truth.

Revillame is not worried about ABS-CBN’s infringement claim. In fact, Revillame wants this baseless infringement suit resolved soonest as law and jurisprudence unequivocally dictate that television formats are not copyrightable. However, he and his co-defendant in this baseless case, ABC TV5, cannot submit to a court (the Makati court) bereft of jurisdiction, and to a judge whose bias for ABS-CBN and its counsel is unquestionable.

At the onset, Revillame and ABC TV5 challenged the Makati court’s jurisdiction as none of the parties in this case reside in Makati. Furthermore, ABS-CBN and Revillame had agreed that all actions between them should be brought to the proper courts of Quezon City. To borrow Cruz’s words, “[t]his defies logic”: Why would ABS-CBN insist on proceeding with its infringement claim in the Makati court despite the latter’s apparent lack of jurisdiction and notwithstanding ABS-CBN’s commitment to raise all legal issues against Revillame in the proper courts of Quezon City?

Worse, ABS-CBN engaged in forum shopping when it filed its patently unmeritorious action in Makati despite the pendency of a related action in the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City. The law frowns upon forum shopping as it trifles with the administration of justice and manipulates court processes. When multiple suits involving practically the same issues are filed, this may result in different courts issuing contradictory rulings. This constrained Revillame and ABC TV5 to seek relief from the CA, which granted our petition when it issued the 60-day TRO enjoining the Makati judge from hearing the case.

We thought we had aptly discussed the foregoing issues in our letter to Cruz last Dec. 13.

Nevertheless, the initial hearings on ABS-CBN’s infringement claim proved that ABS-CBN has no case against Revillame. ABS-CBN’s own witness, Marilou Almaden (business unit head for “Wowowee”), has testified that ABS-CBN does not own a copyright over the concept and theme of the defunct show “Wowowee.” Almaden likewise has admitted that ABS-CBN does not own the copyright over the songs and choreography used in “Wowowee.”

Without a valid copyright, there is no infringement.

Cruz is correct: “an innocent man will want the evidence to be immediately brought to light to clear his name of the accusation.” Revillame does want this unfounded infringement accusation to be resolved soonest, but not at the expense of allowing the manipulation of the justice system by ABS-CBN. Revillame is ready to face this issue at the proper forum.

—FERDINAND A. DOMINGO,
counsel for Willie Revillame,
Reyno Tiu Domingo & Santos Law