An Act to Prohibit the Reprinting, Reproduction or Republication of Government Publications and Official Documents Without Previous Authority

REPUBLIC ACT No. 248

An Act to Prohibit the Reprinting, Reproduction or Republication of Government Publications and Official Documents Without Previous Authority

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippine Congress Assembled:

Section 1. The reprinting, reproduction or republication by any private person or entity of textbooks, manuals, courses of study, workbooks, tentative objectives, tests, forms, and other instructional aids prepared and published by the former Bureau of Education, or by the present Bureau of Public Schools, without the previous consent or permission of the Secretary of Education, is hereby prohibited.

Section 2. The Secretary of Education is hereby authorized to issue such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this Act.

Section 3. Any person violating the provisions of this Act, or of the rules and regulations issued under this Act, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five thousand pesos or by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or by both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court: Provided, That if the violation is committed by the manager, director, representative, agent, or employee of any natural or juridical person in the interest of the latter, the same shall render said natural or juridical person amenable to the penalties corresponding to the offense, without prejudice to the imposition of the proper penalty, either personal or pecuniary, or both, upon such manager, director, representative, agent, or employee: And Provided, further, That when the principal or employer is a juridical person, it shall be amenable only to the pecuniary penalty corresponding to the particular offense.

Section 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: June 12, 1948.