A woman is facing a criminal complaint before the Department of Justice (DOJ) for streaming with a price in her Facebook account the movies from the ongoing Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) 2020.

Optical Media Board’s (OMB) enforcement and investigation chief Manuel Mangubat filed on Tuesday, Jan. 5, the complaint against the respondent identified as Jawen Heart Escala Domingo, a resident of Meycauayan, Bulacan.
In the complaint, Domingo is accused of violating Republic Act 9239 or the Optical Media Act of 2003 in relation to RA 8293, in particular, for engaging in sale and distribution under Sec. 19 and for copyright infringement under Sections 177.1 and 177.2 in relation to RA 8293 or the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines.
The complainant explained that “due to the ongoing pandemic, the Metro Manila Film Festival 2020, is offering MMFF film entries on an online platform” and has been running from Dec. 25, 2020 to Jan. 8, 2021.
However, the complaint said that it has been found that movies in the ongoing MMFF are “being offered for sale and distributed by opportunist, counterfeiters and pirates who stream these movies on their social media accounts from the producers or copyright owners of the said films.”
Among them, Mangubat said “Respondent (Domingo), using a Facebook account named ‘Treah Mei’, is engaging in the sale and distribution of optical media containing MMFF film entries for a fee of Php 150 for all of the MMFF movie entries…”
The complainant pointed out that “upon verification with the Registration and Licensing Division (OMB-RLD) of the OMB, the subject individual is not licensed to engaged in the sale and distribution of optical media or more so exhibit any or all of the MMFF film entries in her personal Facebook account.”
Mangubat said “copyright owners of the MMFF film entries have agreed to offer their movies for downloading and streaming at the website UPSTREAM.ph/mmff” but “any other site streaming or offering to play the same movies are without permission from the copyright holders tantamount to Infringement…”