AMENDING PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 285

I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by
virtue of the powers in me vested by the Constitution as
Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and
pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972 and General
Order No. 1, dated September 22, 1972, do hereby decree and order that
Presidential Decree No. 285, dated September 3, 1973, be amended by
amending Sections 1 and 3″ thereof and adding a new section, as follows.

“SECTION 1. Whenever the price of any educational,
scientific or cultural book pamphlet and other written materials,
whether of domestic or foreign origin has become so exorbitant as to be
detrimental to the national interest, as determined and declared by a
committee composed of the Secretary of Education and Culture the
Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority, the
Chairman of the Textbook Board and the Director of the National
Library, such book, pamphlet or other written material may be reprinted
by the Government or by a private printer under the following
conditions:

“(a) That a single title may be reprinted by only one printer
authorized by the Government;
“(b) That anyone wishing to undertake the reprinting shall file an
application with the National Library containing the following
information: the title, author and original publisher of the book or
other written material to be reprinted; its foreign list price in case
of a foreign book or its domestic list price in case of a Philippine
book; the proposed list price of the reprinted matter; the number of
copies to be reprinted; and the name and address of the applicant. An
application for each subsequent reprinting shall likewise be filed; and
“(c) That the successful applicant shall accomplish the reprinting
within sixty (60) days from the date of approval of the application. If
the reprinting shall not have been done in that time, the title may be
applied for by other interested parties.

“All titles reprinted prior to these amendments shall be
registered, the registrant furnishing the National Library the same
information required in the aforementioned application, within thirty
(30) days after these amendments take effect.”

X X X

“SEC. 3. The reprinting of the above-mentioned books,
pamphlets or other materials shall be subject to the condition that the
reprinter shall pay a royalty of at least seven per centum (7%) of the
list price in the Philippines, in case of books published in the
country, or at least two per centum (2%) of the foreign list price in
the case of books published in other countries, the same to be paid
within a reasonable period: Provided, That in the case of nonresident
authors, publishers or copyright owners, the royalties, in dollars if
so desired, shall be fully remittable.”

SEC. 4. Any conflict or claim arising out of the
provisions of this Decree shall be decided by the Committee mentioned in
Section 1 hereof. An order or decision of said Committee shall become
final after fifteen (15) days following the receipt by the party
concerned of such order or decision, unless in the meantime an appeal
therefrom to the Office of the President has been taken by the aggrieved
party.

The Office of the President shall decide the appealed case
within ten (10) days after the Filing of the appeal.

These
amendments shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of
Manila, this 1st day of March, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred
and seventy-four.